


I Sail With You

by AFangirlFantasy



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alpha Louis, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Alternate Universe - Arranged Marriage, Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Alternate Universe - Pirate, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Angst with a Happy Ending, Arranged Marriage, Bonding, Bottom Harry, Childhood Friends, Childhood Memories, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluffy Ending, Harry is a Little Shit, I can't think of anything else, M/M, Mating, Mating Bond, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Mild Smut, Minor Violence, Omega Harry, Pirate Liam Payne, Pirate Louis, Prince Harry Styles, Prisoner Harry Styles, Protective Louis, Royal Harry, Subdrop, Swordfighting, Swords, Top Louis, at the very end, hardly though, it's fluffy though, like literally hardly, louis is too though, pirate ed sheeran, pirate niall horan, technically arranged mating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-11
Updated: 2018-03-11
Packaged: 2019-03-28 22:30:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 35,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13913520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AFangirlFantasy/pseuds/AFangirlFantasy
Summary: Against his wishes, Omega Prince Harry Styles is arranged to mate with someone he doesn’t love, much less knows. Though he pleaded to his parents incessantly, they not only refuse to comply but force him to depart on a ship days later. Harry prays for fate to step in, to change what’s to come, however, the answer he is given is not exactly in the form he had hoped.EnterWill Tommo– deadliest pirate captain of all seven seas.Spanish Translation





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Me again! I'm actually really nervous about posting this story because I didn't have the time I wanted to devote to this, but I also wanted to get it up sooner rather than later - so I hope you all still like it regardless!! I had this idea in my head for months but it wasn't until the other week or so that I was able to write it down. I have to say that I think this is one of my favorite endings that I've written aside from Even Angels Have Their Demons. Just putting that out there :) 
> 
> **A Few Side Notes!**  
>  *This is a pirate fic, so there are moments where Louis is fighting - none of it is graphic but if it bothers you let me know, and I'll tell you where to skim past!  
> *I apologize in advance for historical inaccuracies. I tried my best to keep what I could as realistic as possible, but I also took some liberties with the story, so keep that in mind.  
> *There are a few POV changes so watch out for those!  
> * **This is dedicated to my anon who inspired me to keep writing this! I cannot thank you enough!!! :) <3<3 <3 **
> 
> Last thing - THANK YOU 100000000x times to [doodle-my-direction](http://doodle-my-direction.tumblr.com/)  
> for drawing the incredible piece that is in this story now!!! <3 <3 You're amazing!

   

** I Sail With You **

_No fair_  
_You really know how to make me cry_  
_When you gimme those ocean eyes_  
_I'm scared_  
_I've never fallen from quite this high_  
_Falling into your ocean eyes  
_ _Those ocean eyes_

Ocean Eyes; Billie Eilish

 

It all started at the party. It was a luxurious affair, orchestrated together for the fairest kings and queens across the lands. News had spread its mighty wings from one pair of lips to another – Prince Harry Styles was an Omega. In typical fashion, genders are revealed once a child hits sixteen years of age. While there are cases where it’s happened earlier, no such records exist in reverse. It’s never unveiled later. However, at eighteen, after two years of having thought the young Prince was a Beta, he had woken up to his first heat.

This was thrilling to those of the Styles Royal Family because it meant their son was desirable. Allegiances could be created with Alphas and Omegas, and a male Omega was even more valuable. King Styles was elated, to say the least. In honor of the news, the family thus threw a party to celebrate their good fortune.

The intentions were simply to praise the Prince’s status, or so the King had said, but Harry could see it in his mother’s familiar eyes that there was more to it than that. And really, the Prince was not surprised. His elder sister Gemma presented as an Alpha, and it took mere weeks before she was married to the best female Omega around. Although as with tradition, with Gemma being next in line to take the throne of England, it also meant she needed to have a partner to rule beside her and produce an heir - though she hopefully has years before that’s even necessary. Still, the point remains - she was arranged with a mate as soon as their parents could shake the other king’s hands.

Why would Harry be any different?

The party was extravagant, no expense too expensive, as they decorated the halls with the finest of furnishings and embellishments. Harry preferred smaller gatherings, typically with the people he’s most intimate with, but this night was far from small. Everyone from everywhere was seemingly invited, including all of the eligible Alpha princes.

Hardly an hour into the party, when the Omega is hiding (or so he thought) his mother finds him standing by the drinks. As she gracefully glides into Harry’s vicinity, he takes note of the way her silk, [green gown](https://78.media.tumblr.com/1c19e562469e31d4c7120cc5e1a84d4a/tumblr_p5e05du5sR1v8ifgno3_r1_400.jpg), compliments her complexion well. He imagines his sister too, is off somewhere wearing a [dress](https://78.media.tumblr.com/5e1beca7bc201c4ff92f835340b980ac/tumblr_p5e05du5sR1v8ifgno2_r1_500.jpg) of similar color, though fashioned with significantly less embroidery than his mother’s lavish design. According to his father, it’s best they all match, to appear cohesive, to appear united as a family. Harry too, was even forced into an attire that incorporated shades of green in his [waistcoat](https://78.media.tumblr.com/3a1ba6b85b2c8cb2fdb8adf715170ab5/tumblr_p5e05du5sR1v8ifgno5_r1_400.png) and jacket. While the clothing is both decadent and exquisite, and while the Omega Prince loves acquiring things of such high fashion, it’s just not the same when he’s given no choice in the matter.

As his mother imposes, Harry fears he’s about to lose more pieces of his freedom however, than just his choice in outfit, “My darling son,” she coos. “There you are! I do hope I am not interrupting, but I would like to acquaint you with a friend of mine. Her son has just presented as Alpha, and he shall be taking the throne of Italy someday - _soon_.”

Harry scoffs, “ _Just_ presented?”

“If you are implying what I think you are, then yes…he is sixteen.”

“Mother.”

“Do not use that tone with me,” she quietly reprimands. After glancing around the room to see if anyone noticed their minor dispute, his mother feigns a wide grin and latches onto his forearm as they stroll, “You are to come meet him, regardless. I believe this shall be a splendid match for you.”

“You mean a good match for _you_?”

If anybody else had thought to speak to the Queen in such a manner, their head would be held on a stick no sooner than they could take another breath. However, being the Queen’s son had certain perks. One of which being that he could sass his mother without facing a death penalty. Although facing her wrath isn’t that much better of an alternative.

Her soft hands grip harshly into his arm, though her face bears no anger as she demands through her smile, “I would be careful with what you say, Harry Edward. You are beginning to sound rather ungrateful, and I do not believe that is the message you are trying to convey.”

Harry bites the inside of his cheek, a nervous habit he gives into whenever he’s being scolded. Reluctantly he obliges, “No, mother.”

“Good. Now, we shall go meet the Prince. His name is Dante, and you _will_ behave.”

“Yes, mother.”

Waltzing to an older woman much like his own, albeit far tanner skin, Harry and his mother come to a halt. “Queen Andrea,” Anne smiles, “So kind of you to come all this way. I am not sure if you recall, but this is my son - Prince Harry. He is the one that recently presented as Omega.”

The woman’s brown orbs alight at the introduction as she takes in the sight of Harry. It’s uncomfortable standing there as if on display, as she scans her curious eyes across him. The Omega Prince tries to create an illusion of normalcy, though underneath his skin, he’s squirming from the attention.

“Queen Anne, what a pleasure to see you again. And bellissimo, Prince Harry. Very beautiful. Ah, Dante? Dante?”

Peering around, the woman finds a younger male who Harry presumes is her son, a few meters behind them, and shoves him into their inner circle eagerly. “Queen Anne, Prince Harry…this is my Dante.”

To be fair, the boy is attractive. Rich ebony hair flows around the strong bone structure of his face, and a charming grin settles upon his mouth. While the bitter scent that emits isn’t as appealing as the rest, it’s not unfathomably unbearable to the English Prince. However, the problem as Harry had pointed out before, is just that he’s young. Two years too young. Sure, there’ll be a day when it won’t be so apparent that the Omega is the older of the two, but right now at this moment in time, this boy is a teenager. Harry feels like an adult compared to him, and not in a good way.

His mother jabs him with her elbow, reminding Harry to bow, which he does as he grits out, “It is an honor to meet you, Prince Dante.”

There’s a smirk on the Alpha’s lips as he drinks Harry in, “It would seem the honor is all mine, Prince Harry,” he replies, reaching out to grab Harry’s hand. The Omega does not like such forwardness from an Alpha, and normally wouldn’t allow it, but Harry holds back his disdain as his mother watches along. When the Italian Prince’s lips touch upon Harry’s hand, he wants to wipe it away on the back of his trousers, and forget this moment ever existed. Unfortunately, that is not going to be the outcome of this encounter.

Nor would Harry ruin such a good pair of clothing.

“Andrea? Dante? I apologize,” his mother cuts in, “But we must be getting along to greet other people.”

“Of course, Queen Anne. Thank you, your kindness precedes you.”

And the gleam in his mother’s eyes as she sneakily winks at Andrea, tells Harry all that he has to know. The arrangement is sealed - he is going to be mated to Dante, the Alpha Prince of Italy.

 

♤⚔ ♤⚔ ♤⚔

 

“Mother, I do not _want_ to marry him. Please, I am not asking for much.”

The King and Queen watch their son beg in front of them, as they sit in their formal living room. Harry had barged in on their meeting because he knew what it was about. He knew they were discussing his future and potential future mate.

“Harry! Your mother and I have made a decision, and that is final. Queen Andrea has been nice enough to offer you anything your heart could desire, along with her son. And with rising tension in the Mediterranean, it is a good alliance to make. We benefit from their silks and food, they benefit from our security. It is a deal that brings prosperity to all of us.”

“Not for me! I gain nothing from this match!”

“Harry, that is it!” His mother stands up from her chair, face engulfed in rage as her voice bellows over the room. “I have had enough! You will be sent off to Italy next week, whether you like it or not. Do I make myself clear?”

Defiance saturates Harry’s eyes as he stares on at his mother, never surrendering even as he replies, “Crystal.” No longer wanting to be around either of them, he swiftly exits the room, rushing to his chambers as he holds back the tears that dare surrender from his lids. Once inside, he lets it all go as he hopelessly thinks -

It’s the beginning of the end of Harry’s life, and it all started at the party.

 

**♤⚔ ♤⚔ ♤⚔**

 

The week passed unforgivingly fast. Gemma had spent as much time with her brother as she could, and promised to visit him just as often, once he was all settled into his new home. Harry never imagined a life without his sister, and yet, all at once it has become his reality. He sincerely prays that she keeps her word on visiting him, he would be absolutely gutted if he never saw her again - more so than any other person he knows.

She’s been his best friend his entire life, he doesn’t know who he’ll turn to now.

In the weeks’ time, Harry had refused to acknowledge either of his parents and thankfully, having a large castle made that relatively easy to achieve. The only time the Prince had been concerned was in regards to their meals, but supper was hardly consumed as a family, to begin with. Many evenings were designated to outside events or affairs the King and Queen had to attend, leaving Harry and Gemma to themselves. The only time it was difficult was in the morning for breakfast. It wasn’t required that they eat together, but on occasion, they all happened to come down at the same time. When it happened, Harry’s avoidance of them was glaringly apparent, and though neither his mother or father bothered to address it, the Omega knew they were well aware of what he was doing. Which, was the point.

Painfully the week went by, carrying itself heavily until the night before Harry’s departure.

“Prince Harry, would you like me to pack your swimming attire?”

“No Claire, that will not be necessary. I am sure they will have the means to provide me with some once I am there.”

As his servant packs up his belongings, Harry stares out his bedroom window one last, tearful time. If only he hadn't presented as an Omega, this never would have happened. He could be a happy Beta, living at home with his family. He'd be allowed to meet a mate whenever he'd like, and nothing would be done for the good of something else.

Being an Omega has ruined Harry’s life.

_Knock. Knock._

Shifting from the woodsy landscape, Harry turns to face his mother at his doorway. “Harry? May I have a word with you?”

“Not sure why you bothered to ask, you will do what you want anyway.”

Claire takes the hint that this conversation is not meant for her ears, and exits the room instantly, closing the door behind herself as Harry‘s mother sits on his bed. For as graceful and proper as the Queen is known to be, she portrays none of her formalities as she slouches into her position, chin dipping low as her eyes round with regret. “I…I am sorry you think that way of me.”

“Well it cannot be helped,” Harry bitterly snaps from his place by the window. “What is it that you want?”

“I just came to say that I hope one day you can forgive me, and see my side of things on the matter.”

The Omega’s glance squints into anger, “I will never understand your perspective on this.”

Every response Harry provides only serves to progress the heartache blurring her irises, but for once, she doesn’t bite back. Instead, his mother stands from her where she had been sat, and doesn’t even look Harry in the eyes when she says to the vastness between them, “Have a safe trip, my son.”

There is no hug or kiss on his forehead that she always does before every trip he ensues. When the Queen departs, the only thing Harry is left with are her words. And as the Omega takes a seat back in front of the window, he’s not sure what’s worse? Not getting a chance to say goodbye or not getting a chance knowing he may never see her again.

Either way, it’s a decision he’s sure to regret in years to come.  

 

♤⚔ ♤⚔ ♤⚔

 

The next morning Harry wakes with glossy eyes and wet cheeks. It seems he'd been crying in his sleep. Today is the day of his voyage, off to Italy where he'll be spending the rest of his life with his betrothed. If Harry had the means, he'd find a way to run away, but where was there for him to go? He'd be robbed of his clothes and money the minute anybody saw him outside the castle's gates. Even worse, he could be captured and sold as a slave to horrifyingly cruel people he doesn't even want to imagine.

He had no one that he knew, that could help him with this either. Nobody on the outside that could help him blend in. Nobody that could provide him a place to stay while he gets himself back on his feet. He was alone in this. Completely, and tragically alone.

“Harry, are you ready?”

Sulking at the edge of his bed, Harry peers up to his father standing in front of the door. At first glance, he appears indifferent, but upon further inspection the Omega comes to the tiniest hint of remorse shining in his eyes. Harry understands all too well - he has to sustain his dominance as the Alpha King, and openly showing sympathy for his Omega son is not in the rule books.

Harry exhales dramatically, audibly displaying his disinclination, “I suppose. There is nothing else I can do.”

“This is meant to be the most joyous part of your life, son. You would be wise to start believing it as such.”

“Yes, father,” Harry mumbles dejectedly.

Rising up from the bed, the Prince leads the way out of his room, traveling mournfully along the corridors of his home. While he has the opportunity to do so, he takes everything in one last, final time. The look of the cream marble that shines below his feet, the feel of the melancholy atmosphere as it hugs against his chest, the smell - the smell of his family, of the garden filled with sunflowers out in the back, the smell of his childhood racing down these halls. It’s everything he’s ever known, and he’s veering on the edge of his weakness, close to falling at his knees with how distraught he is. Maybe if Harry grips onto something they’ll leave him be? Maybe if he clasps on just tight enough? Maybe if he holds onto the walls, the furniture, _the memories_ , and refuses to let go - maybe then, they would let him stay?

Why did this have to happen to him?

Why did he have to become an Omega?

Harry’s body is on autopilot as he carries himself to the front entrance hall of their castle. He should be lifting his chin up high, strolling with pride in his step, but there is nothing he is proud of today. Eventually, he can see his mother and sister as they stand to the side, by the grand staircase in the foyer. Harry doesn’t stop despite his heart literally pounding at him to do so, because he knows the minute that he does, he won’t be able to get his legs to move again.

As he continues to stroll ahead, ignoring all else within his surroundings, he can hear his father call out, “I will be back in two weeks time.”

Harry doesn’t hear a response, but he’s sure his mother and sister hardly care about how long it will take for his father to return. Because either way, no matter if it’s tomorrow, two weeks, or a month - he’s returning without the Prince. Without Harry.

The brisk morning air can’t compare to the tundra of the Omega’s heart.

 

♤⚔ ♤⚔ ♤⚔

 

The Omega Prince had never been on a boat before yesterday, and to say it was horrible would be a vast understatement. Harry’s motion sickness had him in bed all day, unable to even sit up, let alone walk along the deck. Since he had woken up from his slumber this morning, he had felt slightly better, but not great by any means. However, he was okay enough to move this time. Which was a positive, considering he was direly hungry.

“Prince,” a knock sounds against the door, “I’ve come to check on you,” the person says from the other side. “Do you need me to fetch you anything? Perhaps something to drink?”

“I am fine,” Harry answers, thankful the person didn’t just barge into his dwellings as some have been known to do.

“Okay. Oh, the King would like to speak with you once you have a chance.”

“Thank you, you may go.”

There’s no reply back, but the sound of distance footsteps answers enough. Reeling himself out of his sheets, the Omega slithers at an achingly slow pace into standing position. Adjusting his clothes from the unkempt manner they had fallen to, Harry makes sure he’s as presentable as can be when he emerges from his room and onto the deck.

The scent of seawater is pungent in the air, suffocating Harry’s lungs with its salty stench. He doesn’t understand how people enjoy this, there’s nothing even remotely enjoyable to Harry about this voyage. He doesn’t like the boat, he doesn’t like the water, and he especially doesn’t like the fact that they’re in the middle of a seemingly never-ending abyss of blue – _and how is anybody really sure they’re going the right way?_

Not that he would mind if they got lost, not at all in fact.

Regardless, the ocean is not for him. The only thing he’ll be glad about when they arrive to Italy is being able to have his feet on land again. It’s the only redeeming quality about the end of this trip. Though to be honest, he’d much rather be on the muddy plains of his castle, than the sandy shores of the Mediterranean.

“Prince Harry? Don’t mean to bother you, your majesty, but the King’s looking for ya,” someone comments from behind him. Harry slowly turns, “Ah yes. Thank you for reminding me, I am on my way.”

Shifting his eyes from the Atlantic views in front of him, Harry makes his way to his father’s chambers. The ship is noisy this afternoon, full of men taking part in keeping the boat afloat. Some people are tasked with mopping the deck, while others put their carpentry skills to use in areas of need. For all the times Harry wished he had been born a commoner, sometimes he can admit appreciation to the position he’s been birthed to. Hard labor is just not his forte.

_Knock. Knock._

“Come in,” the Prince hears from within. Harry twists the knob, coming into a regal room decorated with elegant cherry wood furniture, intricate silks, and grand paintings hung on the walls. His father sits in the middle at a table set for two. The Omega is glad that there appears to be food waiting for him, his pleading stomach cheers at the thought of being filled.

“Oh, son! Come in, I have been expecting you.”

“Yes, I heard,” Harry answers as he enters in. “What is it that you are requesting my presence for this time, father?”

In his purple robes, his father waves his plump hand in the air to gesture what he soon says, “Sit, eat. We can discuss once you have had your fill.”

Harry’s quick to remark as he gets in the chair, “That makes me even more apprehensive to your invitation.”

“It is just a meal son, what is the worst that could happen?”

“A marriage proposal…oh, wait? It already did.”

The comment invokes an angered expression to appear, “I thought we were past this.”

“You thought wrong.”

“What good is it doing you to continue this argument? Hm? We are on our way to your future mate whether you like it or not, and there is nothing you can do about it. So either act like the bloody prince that you are, or stand to bear the consequences of which I am sure you would rather not. Your choice.”

The Prince’s throat closes in around itself at the threat, a sign that Harry’s fringing upon tears. But to cry when he’s a male Omega is bad enough, to cry when he’s also a prince? That’s asking for immediate punishment. So instead, Harry bites back a response and nods his head. The King doesn’t seem entirely thrilled by the action, but his scowl lessens as he returns to his meal. The Prince decides that he too, better start eating his food before it comes off as disrespectful. Once he's consumed a few bites, his father speaks again.

“I called you in here to discuss additional conditions to your marriage.”

“There are conditions?”

Pausing to stare at Harry with complete discontent for his tone, the King eventually responds only after Harry has refocused his eyeline away, “Yes. Not only are you to mate with Dante, but you are to produce an Alpha heir within the first two years after your bond is created.”

Despite the warning given prior, Harry can’t help but lay his shocked gaze back at his father, “There’s a timeline?”

“What did you expect?”

“I…I have no idea? I thought it could at least be up to us on when-”

“This is what Dante wants, and since he is going to be your Alpha, you will do your best to provide for him in the ways an Omega is meant to provide for their mate.”

Harry frowns, “Yes, sir.”

The Omega’s behavior must finally hit the King’s last nerve since he immediately dismisses Harry though there’s food left on his plate. “You may leave.”

Rushing to stand up, Harry replies, “Okay,” and makes his way towards the door.

“And Harry?”

“Yes?”

“While you are free, you might want to read up on an Omega’s place in this world, since you seem to have apparently forgotten.”

Shame flushes a red color onto Harry’s cheeks at the snide comment from the King, but in lieu of reacting, Harry nods and walks out. Well, he more so storms out, uncaring to who he thrashes his unhinged body into as he makes his way to the edge of the ship. Leaning as far over the side as he can, Harry has never wanted to escape more in his entire life, than he does at this moment right here.

Staring off into the horizon as the sun sets on another day, Harry begs the heavens above to help him.

_Please find me a way out. Please help me escape from this life I have been forced into. Please, please, whoever hears my prayers, help me. Send me back to the home my soul desires. I beg of you._

His hands are clasped in front of him, his eyes are shut tight as his wishes fly away with the roaring waves. After a few minutes, when he’s done all the wishing he can do, he opens his eyes to the sun dipping into the water, like a fire cooling down into darkened ashes below. Harry admires the view, admires the liberty the sun has in hiding away when it wants to. That’s the kind of life the Omega Prince wants, to be free of obligations aside from the ones he sets for himself. He wants to burn brightly when  _he_ wants to, not when he’s told to. And if he doesn’t want to entertain, if he wants to sit alone and relax in the darkness of his mind, he should be allowed.

Because sometimes Harry isn’t a simmering orange but calm lavenders and emeralds and magentas, too.

Gripping onto the railing, the Omega wants nothing more than to dive into the retreating light, and never return. Instead, he lingers outside on the deck to his heart’s content. He may hate this boat and the sea and the salt, but this sunset? He lives for these golden moments when the world sits in silence as it watches the sky scatter in hues of blue and pink. It invigorates the Prince, inspires the Prince, and it always leaves traces of its warmth like burning embers inside his soul.

There may not be a lot that the Omega knows, especially tonight but - Harry Styles has sunsets in his veins. That, he most definitely is sure of.

 

♤⚔ ♤⚔ ♤⚔

 

Two more days into their journey is when it happens. Harry's reading a book in his favorite hiding spot, behind some barrels on the side of the deck where no one ever seems to look. They search for Harry always, and he's yet to be found. Ironically, his hiding spot today is the first place they seek out – except _they_ are not the people that work for the kingdom.

_They_ are pirates.

It begins with a crash. Harry doesn’t hear the noise before the side of the boat is bombed into, and pandemonium erupts like lava from a volcano. Another, much larger ship has emerged from thin air, getting impossibly closer to their own. Before anyone has time to prepare, men are crawling onto their vessel and taking them out, one by one.

Harry’s never witnessed anything so barbaric in his entire life, and it stirs a genuine fear within his bones. Sinking down further into his spot where he had been reading, he hopes it proves to be as good to him as it had been so far, but unfortunately, his luck has run out.

“Oi, who do we have here?”

There are hands on his body faster than Harry has a chance to see the person grabbing him from above. Dragging him from his location, the Prince’s body scrapes against the wooden deck as he’s pulled along mercilessly. He’s brought to the center of the boat where the most chaos is afoot, held down by his hands as he’s shoved onto his knees to watch the destruction take place. This is the first time he gets to watch the true gruesomeness that it is.

Men fighting to the death as blood taints every inch of both their skin and ship.

Amongst the group, Harry finds a shorter, brunette man standing tall over his father, sword pointing directly at his neck, and the Omega doesn’t realize he’s even screaming until all eyes are focused on him.

Silence instantly takes reign, and Harry’s not sure if that’s better or worse.

When the person in front of his father adjusts his focus to the Prince, shivers cruelly cascade like the ripples atop the ocean’s surface against Harry’s spine. The other pirates watch in curiosity to see what this pirate will do, and so far, his first action is to smirk.

“Ay. What was that you said, darlin’?”

The scratchy cadence comes out higher than Harry predicted, and though the words are spoken loud and clear, Harry struggles in forming an answer. “What?”

The man scoffs, “What’re ya, deaf?”

“No.”

“Then tell me,” he enunciates, “What - Did - You - Say?”

“I…I-”

Suddenly, the pirate comes barging away from his father and up into the Omega's face, so close that Harry has to lean back or else their heads would undoubtedly collide. But somehow, the movement's not what startles him the most. Because at this proximity, Harry uncovers something truly jarring. The pirate, the same one that is seconds away from killing his own father, is unfairly beautiful. Yes - up close, Harry's suddenly accosted by more than the Alpha scent drifting off the man, but also by his eyes – two glass pools more vibrant than all of the seven seas combined together. And by his face, a face deserving of even the Gods and Goddesses admiration, as it taunts the Prince with a dangerously attractive grin nestled upon itself.

Harry can hardly keep his Omega in check and has to internally reprimand himself for finding such interest in not only a pirate, but one that’s trying to murder them all. _Because really Harry,_ he thinks to himself, _this is a pirate! A real bloody pirate, and you cannot allow yourself to react such a way!_

A tantalizing voice calls him back from his mind, “Cat gotcha tongue, kitten?”

This time Harry remembers who he is, and remembers who this person is, as he lifts his back higher to directly say, "I said, no."

“Why?” The Alpha pirate teases, “Don’t want me to kill your precious Daddy?”

“No,” Harry snaps. “I mean yes, he is my father, but he is also the King of England,” Harry begins, growing increasingly more confident as he speaks. “If you kill him, you will have a whole country out for your head.”

The eyes in front of him, so sublime in their color, squint in judgment, “Prove it.”

Hurriedly, Harry shows the man his sapphire ring encrusted with a large ‘S,’ that stands for Styles. It’s a family heirloom that exists nowhere else. As the man inspects the jewelry, he glances back into Harry’s eyes before he shoves the Omega’s hand away from his face.

“Here’s the thing, darlin’. I’m not just any pirate, I’m _the_ pirate. In case you haven’t realized it yet, ’m the captain of The Black Dagger.”

The Prince gulps.

Anyone who’s anyone knows of The Black Dagger. Young kids tell their friends scary stories of the terrifying crimes the crew is capable of committing. Parents tell their children in fear, not wanting them to stay out too late, afraid they’ll be caught by the men at night. Even other pirates are spooked by the ship and its infamous captain – Will Tommo.

And here Harry is, literally in front of this same crew, face-to-face with the deadly man who runs it.

Trying to play it cool, the Omega displays nonchalance despite the swell of his anxiety proving otherwise, “And?”

“And,” the pirate grits out, “That means that I don’t listen to anybody but myself, and if I want – I can send you, your father, and all your men aboard down to the darkest depths of Davy Jones’ Locker, and _still_ get away with it! Do you know how many countries are out for me head? More than you can count, I’m sure. So…try again.”

Harry doesn’t think prior to uttering out his next proposal, “You can have me instead – _willingly_ – if you spare him his life.”

The Alpha’s eyes light up like static electricity at the offer, “I’m listening.”

“Let him and the rest of the crew go back to England. They will forget this mess ever happened, and you will get to take me as your prisoner.”

“And why would I want you?”

“Because I am an unmated Omega.”

The pirate’s scruffy mouth parts in shock until he inhales sharply, “You don’t smell like one.”

Harry snorts, “I am on a ship filled with countless other Alphas. Come now pirate, surely you can figure this out.”

The man leans in even closer, raising the hairs on Harry as he sniffs at the base of the Omega’s neck. By now, Harry’s scent has started to materialize through the veil he’s put around himself, but it’s still faint. Yet, he has no doubts the Alpha can tell it’s there, lingering on his skin.

Seconds seem to pass like hours until there’s movement from the other, as the captain inches away. However, prior to his full departure of Harry’s body, the pirate whispers into Harry’s ear, “If I find out you’ve lied to me in any sort of way darlin’, I promise you - I will enjoy killing you.”

Harry swallows at the warning, “I swear, I am telling the truth.”

“You don’t know how much I’ve heard that.”

There’s one final sniff, and the body is gone. When the man rises up again to turn to his crew, he yells out to inform them, “Neutralizing herbs. The Omega has been using neutralizing herbs.”

They all nod their heads in understanding, though some in sheer surprise. Neutralizing herbs aren’t common, and if available, they are incredibly expensive to afford. Of course the Prince would be able to purchase such a luxury that some Omegas only dreamed of having, but it’s not like it was Harry’s choice. His father forced it upon him at the start of the journey, not wanting to risk the chance of being mated before his arrival to Dante.

But the potent elixir has been known to cause serious side effects to Omegas who use it more than once, though Harry's father could care less. However, it's why so many Alphas appear upset at the information, because it's something not even they would allow their own mates to ingest.

And while Harry really hadn’t wanted to obtain the herbs, he can admit that at this particular moment, he wishes he had left his supply in his pocket. Having the bottle with him on the pirate ship could protect him from any unwanted attention. Although, he did just offer himself up to the captain, so he supposes he already threw away his chance for consent.

“Ay princess, you’ve got yourself a deal.”

“I am a Prince.”

“And I don’t care. Just give me your hand so we can get this over with.”

Reluctantly, Harry extends his half-closed fist out towards the pirate, who grabs his wrist and turns his palm upwards. Pulling out a knife, the Omega doesn’t have a chance to stop him before the sharp blade cuts in quick to his skin. There’s a devilish grin on the Alpha’s face as he takes Harry’s hand and shakes it with his own, sealing their deal.

“Welcome aboard The Black Dagger darlin’. I’m your new captain, Will Tommo.”

Harry’s lifted off his knees by two burly Alphas, who the captain tells to take Harry to his quarters. The Prince doesn’t get to say goodbye, but he does have a split second to look over at his father’s face, and when he thought there’d be appreciation, all he sees is anger. Genuine, cold-hearted, anger.

What could he be angry about? Harry just saved his life.

Unfortunately, he doesn’t have the time to figure it out when he’s dragged into a rather spacious room and tied up to a bedpost. If Harry had been an Alpha, he would have had training on how to help himself out of situations like these, even on how to fight back. However, he did not. When his family thought of him to be a Beta, they thought there was no point in training him. Alphas are the providers, the hunters, the fighters. Omegas are the nurtures, the givers, the supporters. Betas – they can fall any which way, and no one thinks twice about it.

There are Betas that fight, and there are Betas that care for others, and Harry’s family had no qualms about him being as soft as he was. When he was a Beta, he could be whoever he wanted to be.

The day he awakened as an Omega was the day his life was over.

Suddenly he was forced into cooking lessons, baby care classes, and shoved into hours worth of Omega obedience sessions to make up for the two years of time he had lost due to his late reveal. And the saddest part is that Harry deep down loves being an Omega. The thought of bearing his own children, supporting his family in all the ways an Omega can – it thrills him. But his family ruined it by arranging his mate, setting a timeline for when he’s to be bonded, and for when he’s to be pregnant.

If Harry were living another life right now, maybe he’d be happier about his gender…but in this universe, _in this dimension,_ he just can’t. He truly, completely can’t. The joy has been suctioned out of him.

 

♤⚔ ♤⚔ ♤⚔

 

Some hours pass from the time Harry entered this room, to the time the doorknob twists to signal someone’s entrance again. He had expected the captain to come in, but alas, Harry's assumptions are wrong. Instead, there's a cheery seeming Beta with bright eyes and a wide smile, and the Prince can't help wonder how this person could be a pirate to the most horrifying crew in all the seas.

“Blimey, you’re awake! Thought you might be sleepin’, but you’re probably too nervous to get comfortable in a place like this. Don’t blame ya, couldn’t fall asleep meself the first month I was here, and even now I have problems getting a good night’s rest. Me mum used to sing me lullabies when I was younger to help me, and sometimes I try to hum to myself, but it doesn’t always help, and – oh. I’m ramblin’. Sorry. The name’s Niall, I’m here to bring you food.”

Niall brings a tray over to Harry and begins breaking off pieces of bread, feeding the Prince by hand since the Omega’s wrists are left tied. When the first few bites enter his system, the Omega feels his energy replenish just a bit more, though his thirst is absolutely unreal. Not wanting to upset the other by asking for too much, Harry sits quietly as he chews, listening for a while to the Beta continue to talk about god knows what. Although to be honest, Harry appreciates the chatter, the silence can be so deafening at times.

On a whim, the Omega decides to speak before the last piece of bread is popped into his mouth, “It is nice to meet you, by the way. I am Harry.”

A grin the size of Niall’s face takes over, “Oh, I already know that - _prince_.”

“I never told you I was a prince.”

“Word travels fast on a ship. I may not be a fighter, but I find out news just as fast as the boys out there leadin’ the frontlines.”

“Are you the cook then?”

“God no,” Niall chuckles, “I’d burn this entire fuckin’ ship down. I’m the boatswain, a general manager of sorts.”

“Oh,” the Omega says, pretending to understand what that means, “Alright.”

The tone of Harry’s reply must puzzle the Beta, because he inquires afterward, “What’s got you down, other than, you know…the fact that you’re actually tied down?”

“I just, well a lot of things to be perfectly candid. But firstly, I am a bit surprised that as a Beta, you have such a high position.”

Harry could tell he was Beta the moment he walked in by the lack of scent, and while Betas can be whatever they want, they never receive roles that Alphas are intended for. Or at least, roles that society has deemed Alphas are intended for.

Thankfully Niall finds humor in the comment as he snorts, “My advice to you now, Prince Harry, don’t assume anythin’. On this ship, we don’t follow anyone's rules but our own and the code. Betas can be captains on this boat, even Omegas if they’ve earned their place. It’s all about technique and brains, not about gender.”

Nodding with interest, the Omega reveals, “I have never been to a place where my gender does not already dictate the kind of treatment I will be receiving.”

“Well, there’s a first for everythin’. I’m sure you’ll be realizin’ that soon enough.”

Patting Harry on the shoulder, Niall makes a stand to head back out the door, when the Prince calls out to him. “Hey, Niall?”

“Yes?”

“Am I going to be okay?”

There’s no hesitation between the end of Harry’s question and the smile on Niall’s face, and while the grin is confirmation enough, the Beta winks as well, before leaving from where he came. Harry hates watching him go, had even thoroughly enjoyed the entertainment while he had it, but this time – the silence doesn’t feel half as bad.

 

♤⚔ ♤⚔ ♤⚔

 

_Bang!_

Prying his eyes open at the sound that blares through his ears, Harry awakens to the captain barging into the room. At the sudden intrusion, the Prince’s heart drums wildly, daring to burst from his chest due to the startling movements the Omega’s sleep-addled brain can’t handle. One moment the Alpha is by the door, the next he’s in front of Harry.

“I see me favorite princess has woken from her slumber.”

Peering up at the figure looming above him, Harry says with annoyance, “I am not a princess.”

“So you say,” comes back snarkily.

“So I know,” Harry argues.

The Alpha Captain grins, “Only a princess would say that,” causing the Omega to scoff.

“Do you desire for me to hate you? Because you shall soon have it.”

“I’m just providin’ you with facts,” Will laughs, getting eye level with Harry, tormenting the Prince further with the sight of such a heavenly blue. Harry’s body goes against him as it falls weak.

“There are no such facts.”

If Will had been considered close before, he was practically on top of the Prince now as he spoke, “Ay _princess,_ but that’s where you’re wrong. Cause see, you have the flowing locks of one,” the captain lists suddenly, letting his fingers lay on Harry’s hair, tugging lightly at their curled ends. “And you have the attraction of one,” he continues teasingly, while he watches with a ravenous gaze, as his thumb soon swipes greedily across Harry’s parched lips. “And you _smell_ like one,” is lastly uttered, causing Harry’s organs to flip as the Alpha comes in close to lean into the Omega’s neck - either to prove his point further or to satisfy his needs.

When the distance lessens, Harry berates himself for being so affected. _Why is he so affected?_ But he can’t deny the tingling in his fingers with the temptation to touch back, and the wanting, needing, for someone he doesn’t even know. _This doesn’t make sense._ Just as Will is inches from his scent glands, however, something stops the captain in his tracks. _Did Harry do something wrong?_

Maybe the Omega’s scent is actually bad?

There’s a pained expression in the Alpha for a split second until it magically vanishes from his face, and he steps back away. Harry hadn’t realized how much heat the Alpha brought with him until his departure left the Omega cold. _But why does it matter? It shouldn’t at all,_ Harry yells at his conscious. Never before has he ever had such a strong desire for an Alpha - there was one boy when Harry was younger and before genders were known, but this is more than that. Reprimanding himself for getting so caught up, the Omega bites on his bottom lip in need of something to focus on.

“Right, well. I had actually come here to say that I’m willin’ to untie you,” is said in a tone much different than before, stripping the room of any lingering tension left between the Alpha and Omega, as Will goes on. “Only on the condition that you don’t try to attack or kill me. Am I clear?”

“Yes,” Harry undoubtedly answers.

For how rough the exterior of the captain’s hands appear to be, he holds Harry’s wrists gently as he pulls his knife out from its hidden place inside his shoe, and cuts the rope. The Omega rubs at the parts of his skin that burn from the hours of friction but makes no other attempts to move. When it seems as though the Alpha trusts him not to attack, the man stands up, extending one of his hands for Harry to utilize in helping lift him off the ground.

“Thank you,” is offered genuinely.

In return, an expression glossed in confusion builds as Will snaps, “You’ve been taken as a prisoner aboard my ship, I’ve had you tied up and locked away for hours, and yet you thank me?”

The rebuttal causes Harry’s cheeks to burn from embarrassment, “You untied the rope and helped me up, it is the polite thing to say.”

Stepping closer into the Prince, the pirate peers up into Harry’s eyes, and this time as he does, Harry becomes overly aware of the Alpha musk radiating off his body that he hadn’t given enough attention to before. A heady, thick scent furls around the Omega, reminding him of something strong like black coffee with perhaps just a pinch of sugar to sweeten the taste. It’s strangely appealing to Harry’s senses, inviting him to reel into the opposing Alpha slowly, unconsciously.

“What are you doing?”

“Uh,” Harry stalls, “I…sorry.”

“Ay, well…you’ll be sleepin’ in here tonight.”

“What about you?”

“I’ll be campin' elsewhere,” the Alpha provides as he takes step after step closer to the door, “If you need anything find Niall, otherwise, I suggest you stay inside. Your scent is rather strong, and we don’t have any of those fancy neutralizin’ herbs to help you avoid an Alpha’s interest.”

“Shouldn’t your crew be used to an Omega by now?”

The captain scoffs, “While my men and I may have spent many nights with an Omega by our side, that doesn’t make it any easier for us to ignore an Omega’s allure.”

“Interesting,” Harry wonders aloud with sudden confidence, wearing a teasing smirk as he does. “You referred to my scent as both strong and alluring. Pray tell, oh dear captain, which can it be?”

The Alpha tilts his head to the side, a wolfish grin wrapped in his peachy-pink lips as he releases snarkily, “Come now princess, surely _you_ can figure this out?”

At the repetition of his own words recited back to him, the captain winks his ocean eyes and exits smugly. Harry is once again left to himself, though this time, absolutely, unquestionably befuddled.

 

♤⚔ ♤⚔ ♤⚔

 

_Satin fingertips tangle softly into Harry’s hair, twisting around his curls as they playful tug on his mahogany strands. He giggles into the chest he’s lying on, reveling in the heat waving off from the body beneath. They’re in a meadow, basking in the sunshine high above the canopy of the trees, and Harry’s happy. He’s immensely happy. He’s just about to say as such when out of thin air, dark stormy rain clouds engulf the hazy blue. Bolting up from where he had just been on the ground, Harry panics as water floods into the meadow, rising up fast as it drowns Harry in its sudden depth._

_In his attempt to stay afloat, Harry also grabs onto the person he had been with, trying to save the person by keeping a firm hold on his arm. It appears a hopeless cause as nothing but water instantly surrounds them, until a boat emerges, carrying none other than Alpha Prince Dante with it. Dante sees the two of them struggling, and with a merciless expression, leans down from the boats edge into Harry’s face to say, “You’re mine, Omega.”_

_As the horrid words are uttered from the Alpha Prince’s lips, he pulls out a sword and raises it up, planning to attack the one Harry is holding. The one Harry loves. Harry is left scared and defenseless as he watches the sword begin to strike down, and as he turns to face his partner for the first time, the image fades into light._

However, the light doesn’t lead to the end but rather the end of Harry’s dream as he startles awake in a pool of his own sweat. The heat clinging to his body elicits him to peel away at his clothes, seeking the cool air to take its effect on his bare skin. After minutes of heavy breathing and the sweat nearly evaporated, Harry lays back down with two questions residing in the frontal parts of his mind.

One - _What did this dream mean?_ The vividness, the way it created such a sense of reality for the Omega, has Harry assuming that there’s more it to than just random happenstance. There’s a purpose here, a lesson here, that is meant to be discovered though Harry has no theories as to what.

And two - arguably the most curious of the whole dream is the second person that Harry was with: his lover. _Who was that?_ There was a deep connection between Harry and this person, this Alpha, though he can’t even begin to justify why. He just knows that it existed, _they_ existed, and he wants to figure it out soon. Figure out who _they_ are soon.

Because the Omega has a strange feeling that time is of the essence.  

 

♤⚔ ♤⚔ ♤⚔

 

“You up?”

Harry is no way near decent when the door is swung open, and the captain comes barreling into the cabin. With sleep snugly cocooned around him, the Prince doesn’t even realize the state of his nearly naked body out on display, until he hears a gasp from the oncoming Alpha.

Peeking his eyes open, Harry finds Will mouth agape, standing in the center of the room gawking at him. His eyes darken into a lustful hunger as they sweep over the expanse of Harry’s exposed torso. The Omega basks in the attention, though he doesn’t want to. He doesn’t want to enjoy the sensation of the pirate’s focus on him, but he can’t deny that he does.

The heat Harry had pried off him last night, returns to him now with different intentions. Sliding up his skin, it tempts the Omega, instigates the Omega into peeling the last little bit of coverage there is left from his hips. _Just give the Alpha what he wants but is too scared to ask for_ , the heat lustfully demands in his ear. Harry's Omega really wants to, damn it really wants to. But the Prince side of Harry reminds them all who the person in front of them is, and why the Alpha is precisely the exact opposite of what Harry - in all forms - should be wanting.

_Resist you dumb Omega,_ Harry orders. _Resist!_

Instead of dipping the sheets lower down his waist, Harry hikes them up to cover his chest, causing the pirate to snap his eyes back up to the Prince’s face and cough. “Blimey, sorry! I’ll uh, see myself out. Just…find me when you’re a little less _indecent._ ”

The sound of the door slamming should come as a victory to the Omega, but it doesn’t.

_What is wrong with him? It’s literally been a day, and his Omega is acting so out of hand._ Harry has heard of instances where the first time people met, they just knew. Instances where their Omega and Alpha saw each other, and there was nothing left to guess. Harry thought he might have had that with a boy from his childhood, but destiny decided it wasn’t meant to be. And once Harry lost him, Harry refused to believe any more in fairytales of love at first sight. They all had to be lies, he convinced himself.

_But then, why is his Omega so influenced by this Alpha?_

It’s a question he chooses not to waste concerning himself with for today. Instead, Harry climbs out of the large bed, letting the white sheets slip from his porcelain skin as he walks around. He hadn’t had a good view of the room from his position on the floor yesterday, but today he can see it all. Allowing his fingers to brush against the side of all things held within, Harry is in awe. There are so many trinkets, so many items that gleam under Harry’s hands, and he wants to know their story. Wants to know where they’re from and how they were acquired. A conversation for another time he supposes. Maybe when he’s no longer a prisoner?

Scanning over the papers on the desk, Harry finds the name Will Tommo written on quite a few of the sheets, and stops to stare at the ink engraved on the parchment. It’s surreal honestly that Harry has found himself in this predicament. The Omega had been begging to be released from the arrangements of his mating, but this wasn’t exactly what he had been asking for when he said those prayers. He meant that he wanted to be back home, not in the arms of the most dangerous Alpha pirate to ever exist.

_Will Tommo._

Harry remembers the first time he ever heard the name. It was whispered like a dirty secret at a tea party his mother held every month. An acquaintance of his, really a son of his mother’s friend, always had the latest gossip to spill at these events. He had the details on every affair, every illegal act, every sin a person had committed within their pompous, wealthy society. But the day he talked about Will Tommo was different. The air stilled around them, all voices hushed to listen to what was being said. It somehow felt significant, that particular moment.

It felt altering.

“Have you heard about the new pirate taking over the seas?” Drew had carelessly asked. The group around him, including Harry, all shook their heads no.

“Rumor has it that he killed madman Harrington.”

Someone counters, “He killed West Harrington? The bloke who took out three Navy vessels just last month?”

“Yep, and it is not a pretty story. Guess Harrington had it out for Tommo for stealing a bunch of his crew members, and when the fight commenced, Tommo cut off his tongue and shoved him in the water for the sharks to do away with. Even worse, he supposedly kept the tongue as a reminder to other pirates not to slander his name, or they will befall the same fate.”

“That is not that bad Drew,” Harry quipped. “I have heard worse.”

“I would like to see you say that to his face,” the man growls. Drew was a hot-tempered Alpha that didn’t like to be challenged, Harry backed down because he was a Prince. Not because of his gender.

“But Drew,” someone else cuts in, “What _does_ make this pirate so bad?”

“That pirate’s name is Will Tommo, Keaton – and you better remember it. He is going to be the next Blackbeard, just you wait and see.”

At least Drew had been right about one thing that day, Will Tommo had become the next Blackbeard as he took over the position of most feared pirate of their time. He not only viciously slaughtered his way through the Mediterranean, but he had become a living nightmare. And if the rumors were true, he was scarier than any monster that lurked within one's dreams or under one's bed. He was the devil himself.

And yet, sitting in said pirate’s room, Harry finds that fear is last of the emotions he’s confronted with.

Yes, dead last.

_How odd?_

 

♤⚔ ♤⚔ ♤⚔

 

Finally disembarking from the captain’s chambers, Harry strolls across the deck in search of where the infamous pirate could be. As opposed to the ship he had been on with his father, this one is significantly larger. And with an increase in size comes an increase in crew members. Men are covering every inch, taking care of each task as they work away at their jobs. Harry doesn’t look any of them in the eye as he passes, just trying to make it from point A to point B.

“Oi, you! Omega!”

Snapping his head up at the call, Harry hesitantly questions, “Yes?”

From the crowd, a red-headed Alpha comes over to Harry, clearly the one that had called to him, “Ahoy there, mate. I’m Ed, the Sailin’ Master.”

“Sailing Master?”

“Ay,” the pirate beams, “I’m the one that guides this beautiful piece of wood towards its next destination.”

“Oh, impressive.”

“Thanks. Uh,” Ed scratches at his hair, “Well I didn’t come to chat for the fuck of it, captain’s given me orders to show you around.”

Harry nods, thankful that this Alpha is the one chosen for the job since he seems to be rather friendly thus far. Curiously, Harry notes that Niall too had been rather amiable considering the reputation these men supposedly have. The Omega comes to the decision of asking about it when he gets a chance.

“Alright, I would like that.”

“Great – not that you had a choice or anythin’, but it’s always better when there’s consent.”

The statement doesn’t bode well for the Omega when he thinks about how many other situations that could be applied to, but Harry ignores the rise of anxiety as he follows behind the pirate. While he does, the Alpha’s scent wafts back into Harry’s nostrils, and though it’s not bad by any means, it’s not the scent his Omega is searching for.

Although the one he finds appealing is the one Harry won’t ever risk admitting, even alone to himself.

“This is the upper deck,” Ed points as the two pass through the area, “This is where most of the meetin’s are held. You won’t have to worry about any of that. Your priority’s gonna be the captain’s room and the dinin’ hall in the belly of the ship. If Will lets you wander anywhere farther than that, I’d be gobsmacked.”

“Ed? May I ask you a question?”

“Hm,” Ed hums as he leads Harry towards the stairs that travel below deck.

“Uh, for lack of something better, why are you so nice? And Niall? He was just as pleasant to me as you are right now, and it makes it hard to imagine you both being part of the same fearing crew.”

The Alpha chuckles unoffended, “Niall is the exception to the rule, and I was taken from a Navy ship. Born as a commoner, I joined the Navy to experience somethin’ better than what I had. When Will’s crew took me in, it was a lot more like a blessin’ than a curse.”

“So, you both are the only ones that are nice on this ship?”

“There are a few of us good-natured mates aboard The Black Dagger, but we all fight when it’s time to. This is our home Harry, and we have to protect that.”

The Omega asks on, “But if there is any truth to the rumors, then you do a lot more than protect this boat.”

“Rumors are exactly that, a rumor,” the Alpha says, “You’ll see for yourself soon enough.”

Harry has one question left that he’s unsure if he really wants to know, but for the sake of calming his curiosity he asks anyway, “Ed?”

“Ay?”

“Did Will – er, captain. Did the captain really cut off West Harrington’s tongue?”

There’s a glint in Ed’s eye that transforms his initially amicable grin into something drastingly more sinister, “You’ll have to ask him yourself.”

Harry doesn’t inquire about anything after that. On the surface, Ed and even Niall may have presented themselves as kind, but the Omega must remember that they are still _pirates._ They kill when it’s necessary, and they steal to survive. They may act one way when they’re not provoked or defensive, but if pushed enough, they still have an instinct to fight to the death.

Obediently, the Omega remains quiet as the Alpha finishes the tour and brings him back to the captain’s quarters. Harry was beyond thankful for the return to these chambers, grateful to escape from the ticking time bomb that the Prince now associates Ed as. And while the Alpha may have finished the tour with the same friendly demeanor as he started, Harry still doesn’t care to spend more time with him, or any of these pirates if he doesn't have to. It’s probably best anyway that the Prince stay safe and hidden in the confines of Will’s room; despite it being the one place he’d rather not be, it’s better than anywhere else on this ship. And empty.

 

♤⚔ ♤⚔ ♤⚔

 

“Come now, kitten. Wake up.”

There’s a body sitting on the bed beside Harry, dipping the mattress enough to cause his figure to lean towards the weight. The Omega hadn’t realized he fell asleep again. It wasn’t intentional by any means, but waiting in a room all day is boring; sleep was sure to come one way or another.

Harry mumbles through a yawn, “What time is it?”

“Just before supper,” the Alpha confirms, staring down from his position, “Figured you’d want somethin’ to eat.”

Adjusting to an upright position in bed, Harry answers, “Yes, I would please.”

Will’s eyes grow dark, “Please what?”

“Please, captain?”

“It would do you well to remember that you’re _my_ prisoner, yeah? It’s time you respect me as such.”

Harry lets his eyes fall to the ground, “Must I always call you captain?”

“Yes. I am only Will to those of my crew, and I am Alpha to no one.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Ah ah ah,” the Alpha tisks.

“Captain,” Harry sighs. At the sound, Will lifts his index finger under Harry’s chin, tilting the Omega’s head upwards to stare directly into his face. Today, the chestnut brown of the captain’s hair sways in front of his forehead, creating a nice contrast against the navy shadow upon his eyes. They’re so much darker in color inside this room, as they point their steely focus into Harry’s reflecting emerald.

“Say it again.”

The Omega flusters, whimpering as he rereleases the name between his sultry lips, “Captain.”

For a moment, it feels like the Alpha is going to kiss him as his breath ghosts over the Omega’s mouth, but there’s a pause, a minute of stillness for them to question whether they’re about to cross the line that’s barely even been drawn. To question if either one is ready to take the risk. As the seconds run into the other, the Prince’s Omega releases the smallest hint of arousal within his pheromones, admitting a truth about Harry that’s probably already written across his face.

The Omega can’t help it, Will Tommo is handsome - devastatingly so.

However, when the smell sinks into the Alpha, as opposed to the kiss Harry expects, the captain reverts back to standing position, furthering Harry’s mindset that he hates the Omega’s scent. He shouldn’t care, Harry really shouldn’t care, but he can’t stop himself despite his efforts. The disappointment has already anchored in.

“Erm,” Will coughs, “I’m uh, I’ll grab you some food.”

“Okay. Thank you, captain.”

“Ay,” he answers before walking out.

This time Harry doesn’t wait before falling back to sleep. At least his dreams are better than his reality. For now.

 

♤⚔ ♤⚔ ♤⚔

 

A week passes, and Harry is starting to get the hang of things around here. Every morning Niall wakes him up with breakfast, and up until lunch is complete, he stands beside the Beta as he’s continuously introduced to all the crew members. He can’t say he enjoys the company of pirates yet, but he’s tolerating it more than he thought. In contrast to the mornings, his afternoons are dedicated to hiding away as he takes refuge in a new spot he’s found on the boat. This particular location includes some climbing, but with the sun glistening upon his face and the ocean breeze gallivanting around, Harry can’t complain one bit.

For a prisoner, he sure has a lot more freedom than he suspected he would.

It’s probably due to the fact that the captain has steered clear of Harry since their near-kiss moment last week. As the Omega recounts the memory, he shivers, _what had he been thinking?_ Harry needs to prioritize a list of things worth concerning himself with, and the captain is not one them. Honestly, _what had Harry been thinking?_

“What’re you doing over here?”

Turning his head, the Prince balks at the Alpha intruding on his spot - Liam. Harry had met the Alpha briefly thanks to Niall, and apparently, Liam is the second in command on this ship. There’s a proper name for it and all, but Harry can’t recall it currently. The rather muscular Alpha had been rigid at their quick introduction, at least to Harry’s perception, but Niall reassured the Omega that Liam’s always been a bit standoffish and unreadable.

Watching him now, coming into Harry’s spot, is nerve-wracking.

“Uh, sorry,” Harry begins. “I just…I needed a minute to think.”

Liam hardly appears concerned, “You’re not supposed to be outside the captain’s quarters without being accompanied by one of the crew members.”

“Oh, well he never told me that.”

Rubbing his hands across his tanned face in frustration, the Alpha exhales with annoyance, “Of course he didn’t,” as though it’s a common occurrence with said pirate captain.

“I mean, you are here with me now so...” Harry attempts to persuade. “Is it alright if I stay a few more minutes with you?”

“I suppose it can’t hurt,” Liam decides. “I was coming here to think as well, so we might as well get out of it what we both had intended.”

Harry nods, “Is this your hiding spot?”

“I don’t know that I’d refer to it as such, but yes, I suppose you could call it that. Hadn’t realized anyone else knew about it.”

“My deepest apologies ag-”

Liam cuts him off, “It’s really alright. It was bound to happen sooner or later, there’s not much one can keep secret on a boat of a hundred men.”

Harry lightly laughs, stirring a softer expression to encompass the Alpha’s hickory irises. “You know, you speak awfully proper for a dumb pirate,” the Omega teases.

“I’m not a born and raised pirate, and that’s all you need to know,” Liam counters and Harry doesn’t push more than that.

In their place, minutes transcend of nothing but thoughts of home as Harry and Liam rest idly by one another. Based on approximations, Harry calculates that his father’s arrival back should be within the next day or so. He wonders what his father will say about the journey, about their encounter with The Black Dagger, and about what Harry sacrificed to save them? Harry wonders if his father will even admit to the facts or embellish the story to his own benefit? He’ll probably lie, but Harry has no idea in regards to what part he’ll change if any.

And Harry’s poor sister, what will she think has happened to Harry?

They were supposed to see each other again soon, they were supposed to stay close throughout the awful situation Harry had been placed into. Now? Harry fears he may never see his sister again. Maybe one day he’ll get the chance to write, but visit? That’s a hopeless wish to have.

It’s interesting that Harry doesn’t consider his mother when he thinks about the people he’ll miss. He won’t miss his father, though that’s a truth he’s always known. However, his mother shocks him quite a bit. Maybe it’s too soon? Maybe in another week, he’ll feel the emotions that are incognito, reveal themselves to him? Or maybe they won’t appear at all?

“George, what the bloody fuck are you doing?”

A familiar voice shrieks into the calm, shattering it with anger. Harry and Liam spare a look at one another before they lean over a wall they’re hiding behind, to look down at the men below them on deck. Harry sees the captain standing in front of a somewhat younger looking lad, furious.

“Sorry Cap'n, I hurt my hand in the fight last week an it’s been tough workin’ around it.”

“Are you making an excuse for yourself?”

“Absolutely not, Cap'n.”

Will practically spits as he leans impossibly close to the other’s face and viciously demands, “You better fuckin' clean this mess up or you’re walkin' the plank by nightfall. And don’t even think about getting your ration of dinner tonight.”

“Yes,” the boy gulps, “Of course.”

Will marches away, leaving behind a rattled George jumping down onto his hands and knees to clean at the mess on the deck. When Liam and Harry settle behind the wall again, Liam suggests, “It’s probably time to get you back.”

Harry complies easily, “Alright.”

Beginning to stand up, Harry is halted from moving forward when the Alpha lays his hand out on the Omega’s arm, “Just so you know, he’s really not as bad as he seems. There are just…there are a lot of reasons Will is the way that he is, but I can’t be the one to tell you about that.”

“Oh, okay.”

Liam displays a half-hearted grin, trying to lift Harry’s spirits, but Harry is not concerned about the captain’s attitude. It’s not even what has Harry so perplexed. Sure, it’s striking to witness, but Harry is more puzzled by the fact that so far, his treatment on this ship has been better than even Will’s own crew members. _Why? How?_ Harry may be an Omega, but he’s still a prisoner, and he hasn’t been treated even a quarter as bad as poor George just was.

_What does that mean?_

When Liam drops Harry off at the captain’s room, he promises to take Harry back up to their spot whenever he so wishes. Harry is delighted by the vow and holds Liam to it, warning him that the Omega may ask a lot in the next week or so. Liam doesn’t seem perturbed by the response, and though his emotions are never more than a hint of something here or there, Harry can sense the trace of happiness emitting from his tight-lipped grin. It’s the best he’ll get from the burly Alpha, and it’s the first thing that’s made the Prince genuinely happy since being on the ship.

As Harry comes to think that maybe things aren’t so bad, a presence looming in the shadows unbeknownst to him, is determined to change all that.

 

♤⚔ ♤⚔ ♤⚔

 

Harry doesn’t know what he hears first, hours later when he’s lying in bed - the sound of the door slamming or the captain’s raspy voice screaming at him.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

Completely surprised by the onslaught of a yelling Alpha marching up to him, Harry’s Omega whines. _What had he done wrong?_

“I…I do not know-”

Will barks out, “Oh don’t give me that bullshit! You acted as if this was one huge sacrifice to you, but you wanted to be on this ship, didn’t you? A pretty, little, unmated Omega going around and gettin' a knot from whichever bad pirate they can next? Admit it!”

“No! Where would you get an idea like that,” Harry attempts to defend himself.

“My crew, _princess,_ does not lie to me. And I have multiple witnesses saying that you were with Liam earlier today, and one witness who claims to have seen more than platonic relations between the two of you. So admit it…you ran off somewhere so you can take his big knot, didn’t you?”

“No, that is not what happened.”

The captain gets closer, eyes blazing with fury as the blue is shadowed over by a red haze. “I don’t believe you, and due to your actions, I am forced to administer your punishment.”

Harry’s stomach lurches. His Omega feels the weight of having done something bad, but the horrible idea of being so bad that he deserves a punishment too? It’s too much. The captain reaches to grab Harry and turn him over on his stomach, and Harry knows it well enough that’s he’s to be spanked for his behavior. But before he feels the first hit, before he can hear what Will is saying to him, his Omega drops him down into subspace, escaping the stressful situation by dipping low into his subconscious. Taking him away from everything for a while.

 

♤⚔ ♤⚔ ♤⚔

 

When Harry comes to, it’s Niall that’s beside him. He appears exhausted and solemn as he sits beside Harry until he realizes the Omega’s eyes have opened.

“Harry!”

“Ni,” Harry coughs, “What? What happened?”

Niall immediately shoves a cup of water into Harry’s face, and as he drinks, answers the question.

“A loaded question, that is.”

Harry just stares, and Niall eventually sighs his defeat, “Alright well, Will really went off on you. The whole ship heard it, and we also heard him freak out when you subdropped. Came running out of his room looking for someone that could help him get you out of it, and I mean…some of the mated Alphas tried their best, but it wasn’t working. Anyway, when Liam heard what Will had been mad about, he completely went off. ‘ve never seen him react like that, especially not to Will. Those two are best friends, and Liam’s never _ever_ freaked out on him, but he did. Punched Will in the eye for not asking him first, and for the state he left you in.”

Harry’s eyes widen with shock at the notion of Liam punching the captain in honor of him?

“Yeah,” Niall continues. “Wild. After that Will asked me to watch you as he went to punish whoever had lied to him in the first place. Turns out it was Marvin, who’s an awful bugger anyway. Guess he didn’t like you taking up the captain’s attention. Fuckin’ cunt, he is.”

“What happened to him?”

“The same thing that happens to anyone not looking out for their crew and Will, they walk the plank.”

Sputtering around his drink, Harry says, “But…but.”

“Look, it’s not just about you. This crew? It’s a family, and if you don’t have your families best interest at heart, then you don’t belong. We may do awful things to people who deserve it, but we respect and stand up for each other. We have each other’s backs, and if one person is playin’ against that, they’re gone.”

“My family was never like that,” Harry’s somber voice admits.

Niall visibly saddens, “Neither was mine.”

“How did you end up with The Black Dagger? If you do not mind me asking?”

“Well,” Niall begins as he leans further into the pillow beside Harry’s head, “Back in Ireland there was nothing but farmin’ for me. I didn’t want to be a farmer, I never liked being a farmer. I enjoyed tendin’ to the animals, but that was as far as my interest lied. I wanted to travel, I wanted to do so much more. When I told my dad that I didn’t want to follow in his footsteps, he beat the livin’ shit out of me. It took a week for me to recover enough to walk, and the minute that I could, I ran away. I made it as far as the shores, and that’s when I ran into these guys. I begged them to take me along and when Will asked why, I answered him honestly. Ever since that day I’ve never looked back.”

“What did you tell him?”

There’s a humble grin that grows as he responds, “I told him that I didn’t want the sex and that I didn’t want the money. I had no job, no home, no family, but all I was lookin’ for was a place I belonged. Will said that his crew was just a bunch of misunderstood misfits, but at least they had a place together on his ship. I was given a chance that day, Harry. One I’ll forever be grateful for.”

“It almost sounds like he was a different person back then.”

“In some ways he was, in some ways he wasn’t. Will’s a complex person, even after all this time of friendship I’m still not sure I’ve figured him out.”

“Have you tried?”

“I try every day.”

Niall leaves soon after that to fetch Harry food, and Harry let's all that Niall said really come over him, wash into him. Will was awful to Harry last night, and though it’s nice that he kicked out the guy that told the lie about he and Liam, the captain had done it for his crew – not for Harry.

All these events have put his Omega in a weak state. Since arriving, a part of him has been infatuated with the captain, wanting to throw away all logical reasoning, all rationale, and submit to the Alpha. Which alone has been hard enough on Harry’s mental state. Not to mention the fact that the other half has been doing everything in its power to do the exact opposite. The difference between Omega Harry and Prince Harry is astounding, and they clash like two kingdoms at war with one another at the battlefront of his heart.

However, there was a brief glimmer of hope when Harry assumed he was the only one that the captain treated somewhat nicely, that the Omega was perhaps _special._ Last night though, proved that as far as the captain’s concerned, Harry’s anything but. And it causes a pain to reside deeper than any sword could ever subject.

 

♤⚔ ♤⚔ ♤⚔

 

Somehow, someway, Harry slept for the next two days. He had been up long enough to eat whatever Niall or Liam had brought to him, and then back to his rest after that. It’s the toll he has to pay for undergoing a subdrop under such extreme situations. If an Omega drops when they’re being loved and comforted, it’s entirely different. Same rule, in fact, applies to one’s heat - it’s so much more painful to endure it without a mate. Drops are similar, except if an Omega drops when it’s due to stress or fear or intense anxiety, it can be really harmful to the Omega’s mind and body.

That’s probably why Liam was so aggravated over the captain causing it to happen.

According to the short conversations Harry’s had while he eats with Niall, Liam and Will haven’t even talked since then. And apparently, that’s also never happened in the history of their friendship before.

Harry doesn’t have the courage to ask Liam directly about it, and he’s sure there’s more to it than just mistreating an Omega, but Harry is surprised none-the-less. No one’s ever stood up for him. Occasionally Gemma would be there to dry the streaming tears after a dispute with his parents, but even she never had the gall to step up while it was happening. Her support was in secret.

Reminiscing about Gemma has Harry feeling bitterly nostalgic. It’s upsetting him to recall the memories, but he wants to suffer the turmoil anyway. She must know by now of Harry’s state, Harry wonders if she’s doing alright.

There was one time when they were younger, when the Omega was absolutely gutted over the death of a butterfly. He had been chasing it around all morning, watching as it flew lazily to each and every flower petal that it could. Harry had been mesmerized by its beauty, but apparently, the shrill sound of his laughter was too much for his father to handle. The King had charged from the castle and into the gardens where the Prince was at play, and Harry will never forget the seconds that commenced after his entrance into the yard.

His father had found the source of Harry’s enjoyment and crushed it before his eyes.

The sound of Harry crying was somehow better because his father retreated back inside without a single care. Once he was out of sight, Gemma had come from behind one of the bushes she had been hiding around, and curled Harry up into her arms.

_“There is nothing to cry your heart out for, Harry. The butterfly is in a better place now, a place far far away from here.”_

With his glossy green eyes rimmed with hurt, Harry lifted his head from Gemma’s shoulder and asked her honestly, _“You promise?”_

_“I promise, Harry. It’s somewhere in the clouds flying with all the other beautiful butterflies, absolutely free.”_

Harry remembers his next words like it had been yesterday, _“I wish I was free.”_

_Gemma brushed his hair back and stared into his soul, “One day, you will be, Harry. One day.”_

Thinking about that moment, thinking about it from where Harry is now, he’s glad to say Gemma’s words turned out to be truth. While he may be a prisoner on this ship, in all the ways Harry had felt caged before – he is free. Free from the burdens of the kingdom, of his family, of his father. Harry’s free to be wholeheartedly himself, and for the first time, the Prince understands the appeal of being a pirate.

If it weren’t for a particular pirate captain, it probably wouldn’t even be so bad.

 

♤⚔ ♤⚔ ♤⚔

 

_Knock. Knock._

“Come in,” Harry announces to the person on the other side. When the door opens, he’s both nervous and happy to see that it’s Will.

“Er, hi captain.”

With reluctant steps and unsure eyes, the captain makes his way over to Harry on the bed. “Uh, hi. I…I just wanted to check on how you were doing?”

“Oh, well there is nothing to complain about.”

The Alpha nods, “I mean you could – complain that is. But I guess it shows your true character that you don’t want to.”

“Right. Pardon my rudeness captain, but what did you come for?”

“Well…I wanted to say that you’re free to move around the ship as you so choose.”

The Omega returns, “I have already been doing that.”

“Oh, then I take it back,” Will’s blue orbs sharpen as he snaps.

Harry counters, “You are taking away a privilege you just gave to me?”

“Yes!”

“O-kay?”

“Not only do you have to walk the ship accompanied by someone, but that someone has to be me.”

“That sounds more like a punishment to yourself.”

“Don’t care,” The Alpha shrugs cockily, “That’s an order.”

Harry sighs with annoyance, “How will I find you when I want to go somewhere?”

Will’s eyes peer in thought as he glances around his room. Whatever he is looking for, Harry doesn’t know, but after thirty seconds the sapphire alights.

“Here! This is my whistle, you can blow it when you want me. Understood?”

“Clearly.”

“And just so you know, Omega – if you take advantage of the whistle you’ll be reprimanded.”

“I have a name, you know.”

The captain smirks, “How could I forget? Goodbye, _princess._ ”

As the door begins to close, Harry chucks a pillow from the bed at the captain’s head, unfortunately missing his target as it hits the wall.

When the wood paneling of the door is officially back in place, Harry ponders to himself – _what the hell was that?_ Initially, the captain had come in here forlorn and timid, but once Harry was even slightly cheeky to him, the captain was right back with the banter and wit and dominance. And he was animated, almost excited to be caught in a battle of sass with the Omega Prince.

_What an odd encounter_ , Harry concludes.

 

♤⚔ ♤⚔ ♤⚔

 

Nighttime was when Harry finally hit his limit. He had waited it out, thought maybe someone would come check on him, to see if he’s doing the least bit alright, but no. After the captain had left earlier in the afternoon, no one had been by – and quite frankly he’s starved. It’s well past dinner, it’s well past bedtime even, but Harry is hungry and goddammit he shall eat!

Clambering out of bed, thankful to move his body after days of bedrest, Harry stretches his limbs as he starts his stroll. When he opens the door, he glances back at the whistle lying untouched on his bed, and thinks of maybe putting it to use, but chooses to not.

He was sneaking around the ship without being noticed before, he can do so successfully again.

Tiptoeing his way to the kitchens, Harry makes his way without being caught. There’s a pile of pre-made bread for the morning, and the sight stirs a desperate, needy growl from his stomach. He’s glad people are sleeping because the noise that protrudes is embarrassingly loud. While the stack of rolls has more than enough for the early meal, Harry only allows himself to take one piece. It will be enough to stave off his hunger until breakfast comes around, and when it does – then his gorging shall commence.

Content with the roll he’s chosen, Harry makes his way back to the captain’s room, when the sound of someone clearing their throat behind him, paralyzes him in his path.

“Where do ya think you’re goin’ there, Omega?”

It’s not a familiar sound, and it scares Harry to his core. When he doesn’t immediately turn around to face the stranger, the voice begins again, “Face me while I’m talkin’ to you!”

Shakily, Harry twists his body. The figure before him is large, and the wretched Alpha pheromones insinuating his desire is wafting off him, choking Harry of air.

“I said…where do you think you’re goin’?” The pirate asks again, enunciating every word as he does. Regardless of the clarification, Harry doesn’t dare respond.

“It appears I need to teach the spoiled brat a lesson on discipline!”

He’s lifting his hand to reach out and grab Harry, but a voice that the Omega does recognize keeps the man from completing his move.

“You better put your hand back by your side, or I swear I will cut it from your arm.”

The threat is enough for the Alpha to hurriedly bring his hand back to his torso. Harry watches as Will emerges from the shadows with a satisfied grin plastered on his face. He doesn’t spare a glimpse at the Omega as he directly stands in front of the more massive pirate. Though there are physical differences in height, Will has the other cowering to him.

“Roman, I am givin' you one chance to make the right choice and return back to your bunk, or I’ll be sure to do away with you as I see fit. And I really, am not in a good mood tonight.”

“Yes, captain. I’m leavin’, won’t happen again.”

“If it does, you will be sorry.”

The man literally runs as fast as he can back to wherever he had come. Harry would cheer for Will’s rescue if the furious eyes that had been directed elsewhere previously, weren’t currently refocused on Harry. And the Omega knows, he knows very well, that he’s going to be next in line to receive his corporal punishment.

“And you, darlin’. Either my whistle no longer works, or you have completely disregarded everything I said,” he says with a mocking tone, as he tilts his head to the side. Watching Harry quiver beneath his demeaning gaze, he presses, “Which is it? Hm?”

Harry fidgets with his fingers, afraid to make eye contact. “I thought I could be quick.”

“You have given me an answer to a question I never asked. Interesting. Would you like to try again, or shall I just distribute the consequences?”

The thought of being punished, the thought of his last sub drop, the thought of the fact that he almost was a lost cause tonight – all at once decides to affect Harry. He tries to answer the question, but a shower of tears descends from his eyes, and his words become muffled through his sobs, “I didn’t listen.”

He’s sure the captain will hate the crying as much as his father hated the crying, prompting him to get on with his punishment with haste, yet it never comes. Harry waits and waits for the hand to smack him, but when the hand comes, it arrives with gentle care and comfort, rather than abundant aggression. Harry leans into the feeling of Will rubbing his back, and when the Alpha picks the Omega off the ground to carry him back to the room, Harry shocks himself even more by purring into the captain’s chest.

However, the Omega’s most startled when the Alpha lays him down softly on the bed, and Harry grabs on tightly as he tries to go. It’s a line he’s never crossed before, hadn’t even thought of crossing before, but his Omega is desperate for the attention he had been given to continue. Desperate to feel the weight of someone beside him, rather than sleeping this night alone. He expects the captain to dismiss him, but the most significant moment of the night develops as the Alpha responds to the action by getting down on the bed with the Omega instead. Harry is astonished, but doesn’t question anything as the pirate holds the Prince tightly throughout the night.

Yes, Will holds Harry tightly to his chest, all throughout the night.

 

♤⚔ ♤⚔ ♤⚔

 

While Harry had thought as much would occur, when he woke the next morning to only himself, it still disappointed him deeply. _What had transpired last night?_ _Was there something more between the Alpha and Omega now, or was it merely an act of sympathy played out by the captain?_ Harry didn’t know. And while he was raging with curiosity, he wasn’t entirely sure how to go about handling it. He couldn’t just walk up to Will and ask questions, could he?

No, most likely not.

Instead, as Harry dresses for the day, determined to go about his routine as if nothing out of the ordinary happened, he comes to a realization. If Harry wants the Alpha to take notice of him, to _want_ him, he’s going to have to play it up a bit. Though Harry’s never been one for jealousy, he’s sure the captain might have a thing or two to say about the Omega hanging around with other Alphas. He distinctly remembers the Liam situation that happened not long ago.

But, Harry doesn’t want to frustrate him sexually, he wants to play with his mind too. Harry’s not just another sweet, submissive Omega he can come to whenever he wants. No. So Harry’s going to make the Alpha want him, and then when he does finally come crawling on his feet, or try to talk his way into Harry’s heart, Harry’s going to make him try again. Make him work hard to earn his spot next to the Prince again.

Although, if the captain says he no longer wants that place or behaves as though Harry means nothing to him, then the Omega Prince will surrender graciously. But…if there’s any hint of flirtation, any scent of interest, any gleam of lust – Harry’s going to make it difficult. Yes, very difficult indeed.

And for a few days, Harry only observes before putting his plan into motion. But after his analysis, after Harry figures out where WIll is at most points throughout the day, after Harry calculates when the captain is at his best and worst mood, Harry uses it to his advantage against the Alpha.

It takes five days more until Will snaps.

Within those days, the Omega had forgone the whistle, as he snuck out of the room, and watched the captain from a safe distance. When Will was at his most frustrated point, Harry would then position himself with another Alpha – mostly Liam – directly in the captain’s line of view. He’s done it on five different occasions, and each and every time the Alpha glances from what he’s doing and notices the Omega, he’s been mad.

However, Harry realizes that this doesn’t entirely answer anything for him.

Because on the one hand, he could be mad due to the fact that Harry is talking to other Alphas, but on the other hand, it could be based on something else altogether. Like the fact that Harry is out without having used his whistle. It’s a challenging game they play, this illusion of cat and mouse, however, the captain finally succumbs to the Omega’s plan. On the fifth day, after Harry arrived back from spending dinner with Niall, there’s a booming knock aside the door, and he barely has time to open it before Will is forcing his way in.

“Princess, please do remind me how many times I’ve told you to use the fucking whistle?”

His temper doesn’t stir a reaction in Harry anymore. The Omega has come to understand that this is simply the captain’s way of communicating. “Maybe twice?”

“Twice,” he repeats, putting his hands on his hips in annoyance, “And tell me, how many times have you actually used it?”

“None,” Harry responds nonchalantly.

“Exactly! None! If I see you outside without my permission again, Omega, I’m going to punish you.”

Harry doesn’t know where the confidence emits from, but it comes in abundance, “So you say. But tell me, captain. How many times have you threatened my punishment? Hm? And how many times have you actually done anything to reprimand me,” Harry cockily mocks. When Will doesn’t answer, Harry beams, “Exactly. None.”

When he’s shoved up against the back of the door, Harry’s not surprised in the least.

“Do you dare mock me, darlin’? I’ve been goin’ easy on you after the incident, but if you want me to, I will do it.”

“Go ahead, though we both know your anger has absolutely nothing to with the bloody whistle.”

The captain tilts his head, his beautiful blue eyes showing an ounce of worry at the statement. “It's not? Enlighten me then.”

Moving his head forward even closer than it had been prior, Harry’s words blow across Will’s lips as they submit from his tongue, “You are mad because I was talking to Alphas that were not you.”

There’s a gulp, an audible reaction from the captain that suggests Harry’s words must be true. There’s a split second where there’s nothing but pride swelling within the Prince until Will rips it away by his next move.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about Omega,” he says quietly, as he leans his hands off the door that had been caging Harry in. Will’s eyes come to face him after, and all Harry sees is fear.

“Use the whistle or else. Goodnight.”

Upon Will’s descent, Harry notes that the Alpha’s body language is confirmation enough to the thoughts Harry had been contemplating. Whether the captain is ready to address it or not, there is something there in the shades of his eyes. Hidden within the iridescent blue, Harry had seen it, he saw a spark. And when the captain grabbed hold of his wrists and shoved him up against the door, he felt it too. Like a current running between them, setting them ablaze.

This means one thing for Harry. His next move of action goes into effect tomorrow. His plan is simple really, he’s going to do exactly as the captain had been asking of him. Although, maybe not entirely how the captain had intended.

But nothing’s fair in love and war, right?

 

♤⚔ ♤⚔ ♤⚔

 

**DANTE POV**

The orange Mediterranean skies are tinted with pink as the afternoon melts against his skin. It’s another terribly hot day spent indoors, attempting to stay cool in the shade. Dante supposes he could be wearing something more reasonable, a silk long sleeved top, with black pants to match the all black attire, is not the most breathable outfit he owns.

But a prince must always appear his best, heat be damned.

“I apologize for the interruption your majesty, but there’s an important letter for you from King Styles.”

The Alpha Prince lifts his head from the paperwork he had been scanning over, when his servant marches in. On any other occasion, he’d be furious at the behavior, but weeks have passed since the Styles had informed him they were leaving for Italy. They should have been here by now. Being informed of a critical letter from their King is thus, the only thing encompassing Dante’s mind.

“Give it here and be gone,” he snaps as he rips the letter from the Beta’s hand. As soon as it’s delivered the Beta disappears out of the room, and Dante has the envelope torn apart.

The letter is rather long. _Fuck._

_Dear Dante,_

_We have sent this letter out with our best men in hopes to deliver it upon your door, as soon as possible. Regretfully, we must notify you of some unfortunate news. As last promised, we had disembarked from England over two weeks ago, making way for Italy. A few days into our voyage, however, we had been ambushed by a pirate ship. It was The Black Dagger._

_Many of our men lost their lives, I nearly lost mine. Unfortunately, Harry was not one of the ones to make it out. The pirates captured him and are holding him as a prisoner. We understand that we made an agreement for the mating of you both, but seeing as Harry no longer is with us, we are unable to uphold our side of the negotiations. Thus, resulting in our deepest sincerity in having to call the deal off._

_We hope you can come to forgive us, and our son, for the fate that’s been handed to us._

_-King Desmond Styles_

Fury ravages the rivers of Dante’s blood as he reads the words over, line by line. _No,_ he screams internally _, this cannot be!_ Throwing the letter on the floor, Dante rushes from his office with nothing but absolute rage controlling his actions.

Harry is _his_ Omega, and he’s going to see to it that he gets him back.

Barging unannounced into his father’s meeting, Dante demands the room’s attention. Everyone within is alarmed at the malicious red of hate taking over the previously glazed honey color of Dante’s eyes, but no one dares to say as much. They sit in fear instead, waiting for what the Prince needs to address.

“I need a ship.”

 

♤⚔ ♤⚔ ♤⚔

 

**HARRY POV**

It begins earlier than the moon’s morning retirement from the sky. The sound is quiet at first, Harry unsure that it’ll even be heard. Just in case, he opens his door but doesn’t step past the threshold as he lets the noise ring through the stilted morning air on the ship. It’s loud, and it’s brash, and it’s going to reach the exact person it’s meant for.

Will.

Another few seconds of the whistle blaring and the captain comes into view, aggravation abound in his tired features. Perfect.

“ _What_ could you possibly want this fucking early in the morning?”

Harry grins, “I want to leave the room, but  _you_ said that I cannot without you accompanying me. So accompany me.”

The captain stares unamused until a roll of his eyes joins in with a sigh, “Alright. Where do you want me to take you?”

“I am hungry.”

“No one’s working the kitchen, yet.”

“Then make me something.”

Will is staring as if he’s trying to shoot daggers into Harry’s brain and the Omega is more than elated by the sight. Eventually, when Harry waves the whistle in front of the captain tauntingly, as a reminder of the demands he made, the Alpha surrenders. “Fuck! Fine. But don’t get in my way or I’ll burn your food on purpose.”

“You are going to burn my food?”

“Good possibility, now be quiet.”

Harry teases as though he didn’t hear the request of silence, “Sorry, what was that you said?”

“I am going to murder you,” the captain groans.

“I would like to see you try.”

And this is how the rest of the day continues. The captain tries to take the reins, but Harry is defiant in every way he can be. The whistle goes off every five minutes for something else that Harry decides he needs, or something he wants the captain to assist him with. After a while of constant nagging, the Omega feels a small sense of guilt, so he relents temporarily, giving the captain a break in the afternoon. It’s only for an hour or so when he allows Will to go about his duties, while Harry rests next to Niall who’s chatting away.

“I can’t believe he’s lettin’ you get away with treatin’ him like that,” Niall comments in awe.

“What do you mean?”

“You see how he treats his crew. He’s a great captain, don’t get me wrong, but he’s tough. I’ve never seen him allow anyone to tell him what to do much less boss him around. If I even suggested him to help me with somethin’ without asking properly, I’d be sent to the plank.”

Harry waves Niall off, “No way.”

“Harry, I mean it. And I know it’s not cause you’re an Omega either, cause I’ve seen him treat Omegas the same way he treats the rest of us, so…it’s probably cause you’re pretty.”

Scoffing, Harry looks the Beta in the eyes, “I am nothing of the sort, and if what you are saying is true – then that means the captain finds me attractive. Which is where I wholeheartedly disagree.”

“Do you?”

“Of course!”

Niall smirks, “Whatever helps you sleep at night, I guess,” laughing at his own comment.

“If he found me even the slightest bit appealing Niall, he would have done something about it already, no?”

“No,” Niall rebuttals. “Maybe that’s what they did where you came from, but not in this universe, princeling. Pirates don’t show affection, and even if it someone comes around, they fight tooth and nail to run away from it.”

“Why? Why would anyone deny that? Deny wanting to be with their mate?”

“Because we’re _pirates._ If someone has a vendetta against us or is plottin’ any form of revenge…who do you think they’re goin’ for first?”

The Omega scrunches his brows, “I am not sure.”

“Who would you go for first, if someone took away your loved ones?”

“I, well? I suppose I would go after theirs in return.”

“Exactly. Us pirates, we have people come for our lives every day, so yes…havin’ a mate, findin’ love – it’s the last thing we ever want to do because they’re the first ones that will feel the brunt of our enemies. Don’t you get it now? And just imagine Captain Will Tommo of The Black Dagger havin’ a mate? Everyone in all the seven seas will come after your life.”

“I guess I never thought about it like that.”

“Why would you,” Niall shrugs. “That’s a pirate’s mentality to have, not yours.”

“Do you think he will ever come around?”

“Will? I don’t know. I mean some pirates have gone against the rules and mated, but it’s not often. Liam’s mated, but his Omega lives back at home, and he never utters her name to anyone. I don’t even know it. But Will? He’s lost a lot already – I doubt he’d be willin’ to go through that again, or even risk goin’ through that again. Why, are you…do you like him?”

“I have no idea what I feel Niall,” Harry admits. “But I am just mostly curious, that is all.”

Niall pats the Omega on the shoulder, “Will Tommo is a lot of things Harry, but a lover? I’m afraid not.”

 

♤⚔ ♤⚔ ♤⚔

 

Harry’s talk with Niall earlier had been intriguing, but Harry refuses to entirely believe what he said. For one, Niall doesn’t know the side of Will that Harry does. And not that it’s much better, but it’s different. Aside from that, Harry felt the spark, saw the spark. He has to believe that it means more than this. True, Harry’s not sure what his feelings on the captain are other than physical attraction – he hardly knows the Alpha to be honest, but he wants to.

And there’s nothing wrong with trying.

Which is why Harry does lessen up on his whistleblowing for the remainder of the day. He knows it’s annoying, it’s even annoying himself, but even if he’s not doing it as frequently, he’s still trying to get Will to break. Plus, he’s also trying to make a point. It’s probably a horrible way of going about it, but Harry has to work with what he’s got.

“What do you want now, Harry,” the Alpha snarls.

Harry knows he’s mad because there’s no longer the use of a nickname. It’s oddly sad being called by his actual name, though regardless of the tone, he does like how it sounds coming from Will’s mouth.

“I want warm milk.”

“Fuck you,” the captain says.

“To be honest, I wish I could. It has been dreadfully hard trying to find time to you know...take care of myself,” Harry winks. “Maybe you could help me with that, too?”

The flush in the Alpha’s coloring is impressive, and he seems genuinely overwhelmed by the candid information Harry let slip. It’s not actually true, but the captain doesn’t need to know that. Harry waits to see what Will’s next move will be, and is a bit thrown off his guard when it’s to lean his head forward and sniff. The act is enticing to the Omega, thinking about an Alpha wanting to sniff them, scent them. Just the mere idea is enough to have Harry producing slick, and he knows…he knows there’s no denying the primal need his Omega has as it infects his pheromones twisting around them.

Will looks like he’s going to either be sick or self-combust.

“Captain?”

The Alpha reaches out and touches Harry’s face, letting his thumb leave its mark all over the Omega’s skin. When the wandering finger comes just on the cusp of Harry’s mouth, Harry watches as Will’s features transition from absolute need to regret.

“I…I have to go.”

“Wait,” Harry calls out, but he never stops.

To be honest, Harry’s exhausted watching Will walk away.

 

♤⚔ ♤⚔ ♤⚔

 

In the middle of the night, Harry genuinely needs the captain. He had been playing around with an envelope opener he found on Will’s desk, and somehow managed to cut himself deep. However, after the day that they had, he’s too nervous to blow the whistle again. It’s like the boy who cried wolf, and when he actually needed help, no one came because they didn’t believe him.

Harry is very obviously the boy in this scenario.

At the same time, Harry doesn’t feel safe enough to leave the room, so he has to do with the only option he has. Lifting the metal to his lips, Harry blows timidly. It’s immediate, the Alpha coming in and ripping the whistle from Harry’s mouth with pure outrage. The Omega whimpers as he’s backed up into the mattress, falling down on it as the Alpha screams at him from above.

“I’m done! No more fucking whistle! Do whatever the fuck you want Harry, I don’t care. I tried to be nice, but _you_ took advantage of that,” he points accusingly at the Prince.

Harry, however, doesn’t stand for this as he physically lifts himself up from the bed and into Will’s face. “You tried to be nice? All you have been since I have come aboard is confusing. One second you act like you can somewhat tolerate me, and the next it is as though I am the worst thing that has ever come into your sight. It is beyond frustrating trying to figure you out all the time. And the whistle – _you_ told me I was not to go anywhere without it, you tried to force me to abide by your rules. What did you think I was going to do? Listen? _You_ certainly would not have if put in this position.”

The captain deflates tremendously. “I…I didn’t realize my actions were causing such strife for you.”

“Well, that is what happens when you spend the whole night with someone, only to leave in the morning.”

The Alpha’s back stiffens at the recollection, “I hadn’t thought about it.”

“Seems to be a pattern.”

Reaching a hand, the captain attempts to grab Harry’s palm but the Omega yelps at the pressure applied to his wound, “Ouch!”

“I didn’t mean to hurt you, I-”

Harry quickly reassures, “I know, I hurt my hand earlier. This is why I whistled, actually, I have no knowledge of where the bandages are.”

“Oh, you actually needed me,” the blue eyes implore.

The green of Harry’s irises respond back meaningful, “Yes. I need you.”

Seconds only pass, but it feels like an eternity after Harry releases those words that the captain actually does something. Heading to the bathroom that’s attached to the cabin, he pulls a cloth wrap from behind some supplies, and a clear bag filled with a transparent substance that Harry’s unsure of. When he returns to Harry, the Omega sits on the edge of the bed as Will kneels down in front of him. Gently cradling Harry’s hand within his own, he reaches for a thick amount of goo to put on the wound first, and then wraps it in the cloth over and over again.

“It’s Aloe Vera, meant to help heal you faster. If in the morning it’s no better, we’ll get you stitched up at the nearest port.”

The Alpha lifts his eyes up to Harry once he’s tied the wrap, securing it in place. Harry nods before whispering, “Thank you.”

The captain’s hands don’t remove from his own, not at first at least, and there’s only staring until the Omega asks into the quietness, “Why _did_ you leave me in the morning, captain?”

“Love is not a concept of which I would like to be reacquainted. And as a pirate, it’s foolish.”

“Love makes a fool of even the best of people, but that does not mean we should shy away from the opportunity when it is handed to us.”

“Your optimism is inspiring, but I can't allow myself to be so vulnerable again. What would the world think of frightenin’ Captain Tommo if he was mated?”

“Who cares what the world thinks? It is not their love or life for them to care about.”

“I’m sorry darlin’, it does to me. I’m afraid love is something I just can't afford.”

Will goes to stand up, but Harry does faster, “This time captain, I think _I_ need to be the one to leave you to your thoughts.”

Harry doesn’t look back once on his way out. Not because he doesn’t want to, because he does, he terribly does. He wants to see the look of sorrow on Will Tommo’s face more than anything right now, but if Harry turns around, he might reveal his own emotions plastered on himself. And that…that is not something he wishes for the Alpha to see of him. To see him so weak. To see him so disappointed in not only Will but in himself. Because Harry had been hoping that Niall was incorrect in his deduction, but it occurs to Harry that _he_ had been the one who had been wrong all along.

 

♤⚔ ♤⚔ ♤⚔

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

♤⚔ ♤⚔ ♤⚔

 

He finds out from Ed that they are about to arrive in Port Royal. It’s arguably the most famous port for pirates, and it’s known as the wickedest city in the world. Harry shivers at the idea of what it’s going to be like. When Ed had confided in Harry about their next destination, Harry sort of forgot that he had been on a pirate boat and this is part of their rebellious lifestyle.

Stopping at different ports for trading goods, exchanging sex, and drinking in absolute excess.

Harry was definitely nervous for himself, but he shuddered more at the thought of the captain.  _Was he going to sleep with other Omegas? Was he going to waste his night doing everything in his power to forget about Harry? What was Harry to do while the crew was away?_

It imprisons Harry’s mind for the good portion of a day until he spots Liam walking ahead. Thirsting for anything to clear his thoughts, the Omega runs up to the Alpha. “Liam,” Harry taps him on his shoulder as the Alpha had been lost in thought.

“Ay?”

“I heard you are mated,” comes spilling randomly from his mouth.

“That I am.”

“So, what do  _you_ do when the crew goes to these ports?”

Liam tiredly smiles, “I send my mate letters that I’ve written since the last port. There are usually a few letters waiting for me too, from her.”

“Is it difficult doing this when you have a mate? I cannot imagine being away from my Alpha every day.”

“It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but it’s the best thing for us. I help out a friend while in turn making more money than I could possibly fathom at home. She saves it for the both of us until I’m back, when we can finally buy a place for us to live together. Hopefully even start a family together.”

“How long do you think that will be? When you can be home for good?”

“One more year.”

The Omega balks, that’s a lot longer than he had thought. “Wow. That must be exciting.”

“In a lot of ways it will be, and in a lot of ways it won’t.”

“Sounds complex.”

Liam nods, “Definitely.”

“Also, I have yet to share my gratitude, but thank you for taking me to our spot, by the way. I do not have many places on this ship where I feel comfortable to walk to, or rather spend time at.”

“This must feel incredibly confined in comparison to your castle back home.”

Harry confesses, “It is not as different as one would think.”

“Do you miss it,” the Alpha wonders.

“Home?”

“Mhm.”

“Not really. I miss my sister, but not much else.”

“Being away from certain people and certain situations helps put into perspective a lot we didn’t comprehend before.”

Harry adds in agreement, “Often times the only way to see clearly is to take a step back.”

The Alpha nods, “Yes. I uh, need to head back or Will will be upset. Are you fine staying here or would you like me to walk with you back to your room?”

“I think I would like to stay here a bit longer, thanks.”

“Of course. Oh, how’s your hand?”

Harry smiles, “It is going to be fine.”

“Good. Well, see you around..”

“See you!”

Harry leans against the railing of the upper deck and stares at the unyielding aqua oasis above him, calling to it for guidance.  _What is he meant to understand from this? What is his purpose being on this ship? What about his mate,_ Harry selfishly wonders,  _will he ever find them?_ The Omega then thinks of Liam and the relationship he has. Harry wishes that he had an Alpha that cared for him, half as much as Liam cares for his Omega.

Sensing the wind coming to pass, Harry asks,  _will my wishes ever come true?_

 

♤⚔ ♤⚔ ♤⚔

 

Port Royal emerges to them late in the evening. They’ve anchored the ship, and all the men have begun running out, eager to make it to the city. Harry stands to the side, watching the display until a thick red coat comes into his view.

“You’re not to leave the ship.”

Taking in the sight, Harry’s mouth betrays him by watering. The Alpha captain is dressed in his best, a beautiful red and black tailcoat that does such justice to Will, as it fits snugly against his figure. In addition to the coat, Will has on a black earring, and a tremendous captain’s hat to match. It’s mesmerizing the dominance he’s radiating, and it’s turning Harry’s Omega on tenfold.

“Quite the dress, captain.”

“I don’t often get to put on my full uniform, but Port Royal is the place where I enjoy embellishin' my status most.”

“Ah, and wait a minute - why not,” Harry asks when he remembers what Will had initially said to him.

“Because you’re an unmated Omega, and you’re also a prince. That’s a recipe for disaster, and to be honest, I don’t feel comfortable riskin' it. So…you’re stayin’.”

“Well, I do-”

“Harry, I’m not arguing. You’re staying on this ship, and that’s my final word.”

The captain leaves, looking back three times in the process to make sure that Harry has remained in his spot. Harry tells himself to listen, that this isn’t the time to prove a point. But when Harry finds Niall getting himself ready to leave, he can’t help but run up to the Beta just before he does.

“Niall!”

The Beta stops his footing to find who’s called to him, and doesn’t openly grin when he notices it’s Harry. “Ay?”

“Glad I found you, wanted to tag along with you into the port.”

Niall bursts out into laughter, “Oh that’s too good! You can’t fool me. There’s no way captain would let you out there freely.”

“Talked to him, he said he had no qualms about it,” Harry lied, only because Niall would never let him come along otherwise.

Suspicious eyes bore into Harry, but they finally surrender. “If this costs me my life, I’m taking you down with me,” Niall answers.

“It will not!”

“Alright, come on then. Ay, and wear my jacket. You don’t want to go there smellin’ the way you do.”

“Is it that bad?”

“Not bad, just strong. My jacket won’t get rid of your scent, but at least it’ll mostly mask it.”

“Thanks, mate.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Niall grins, “Hurry up, I’ve got food to eat and people to see.”

Harry doesn’t waste another second in getting the jacket on and walking alongside Niall towards the place of every pirate’s dreams. Port Royal.

 

♤⚔ ♤⚔ ♤⚔

 

It’s the biggest city Harry’s ever been to, and it’s both terrifying and thrilling all at once. Pirates of mostly Alphas and Betas walk the streets freely, while Omegas stand off to the side showcasing themselves like products to be bought. Harry realizes that those Omegas probably are. For as many bars as there are lining the streets, there are brothels, and it’s livelier than any ball Harry’s ever attended as chaos ensues into the night.

“What do ya think of it so far?”

“Niall, I am at a loss for words.”

The Beta laughs heartily, “It’s really somethin’, that’s for sure.”

Harry agrees – it is really something.

Leading the way that Niall sets out for them, the two walk down paths littered with drunken pirates until they eventually come to a relatively quiet place in comparison to other parts of the area.

“This...is my favorite place to eat in all the seas.”

The place is hardly a shack, and it’s barely standing up, but Niall looks at it with immense pride. Harry grins, trusting his friend to expose him to something new tonight.

“Alright, what are we eating then?”

“Turtle soup,” he answers happily as Harry’s stomach drops. “Turtle soup?”

“Yes!”

“Uh, actually…I might have to decline this offer.”

A voice Harry is unaware of, comments from behind him. “Look-y here, an Omega trying to pretend to be a Beta. Just get a whiff of that Vick, it’s so…delicious.”

Harry’s spine shakes at the venomous tone, staring at Niall as he’s too afraid to turn and face the men behind him. However, the Alphas are not pleased by Harry’s behavior, as one of them grabs the Prince forcefully by the shoulders, making him look them in the eyes. When the larger Alpha’s hands squeeze on to him, he yells out in pain from the sheer strength that's put into gripping the Omega’s body.

“Oi, get your hands off,” Niall tries to defend.

The Alpha touching Harry scoffs, “What’re ya gonna do,  _Beta?”_

Someone else’s voice cuts through this time, “You should be more afraid of what  _I’m_ gonna do,” and Harry doesn’t have to guess too hard to know who it is. And fuck, he’s really going to suffer dire consequences for this - if these other Alphas don’t kill him first.

Niall exclaims, “Captain! Perfect timing, these two thought they could get away with laying their hands on Harry.”

At the mention of his name, Harry nervously peeks a glance at the captain and the expression he’s dressed with when he sees the Omega in return, is pure betrayal. Harry never wants to see that look again for as long as he lives – which might be sooner rather than later depending on how tonight pans out.

“Ay, if it isn’t Captain Will Tommo, as I live and breathe.”

“Yes, it is - and it appears you’ve harmed something that belongs to me.”

The other smaller Alpha refutes, “We didn’t know the Omega was yours. We would have never touched him if we knew.”

“But see,” Will comments as he begins to twirl around them like a predator playing with his prey. “That’s the problem, innit? It shouldn’t matter who he belongs to, because either way, he still didn’t belong to either of you. And for that dear lads, I’m afraid there’s an awful price to pay.”

The men reach for their swords, but Will is much faster, much more experienced as his technique is swift in its execution. Harry shuts his eyes when he sees the first finger fly off, too sick to watch anything else. Not too long after the screaming begins, the Omega plunges into darkness.

 

♤⚔ ♤⚔ ♤⚔

 

_The dream ascends upon Harry, bringing him back to the meadow. This time, however, he’s prepared. He grabs onto his faceless lover as he helps them climb high into the trees before the floods have a chance to drag them down. Once they’re high enough, Harry commends his efforts, hopeful that the outcome will fair differently this time. It has to._

_As with last time, the rain comes in all its might, releasing its hold of water unforgivingly onto them. But in the trees, when the water rises, Harry and his lover are safe. It’s a false sense of security that Harry falls into though, because while he’s freed them from the problem of drowning – he hasn’t freed them from Dante._

_His familiar ship comes sailing through, and Dante is quick to locate them in the shady coverage of the treetops. While he can’t reach them with his sword, he can reach them with a canon. Either Harry jumps back into the water to relive the same scenario as last time, or they stay in the trees waiting for the canon to tear them apart._

_Harry does not know what is the lesser evil of the two._

_In an attempt to figure out what his answer should be, he glances back to his lover. This time, more features are apparent in their design, but the eyes – their eyes - are still missing. And the edges of the body are vague to Harry’s sight, though he wants nothing more than to see them as clearly as all else._

_“You can’t hide from me. You’re mine, Omega!”_

_The same is said as last time. Harry squeezes his lover’s hand hard. What can he do? What can they do?_

He never finds out. Dante lets the canon blow, and Harry wakes up dripping from head to toe in sweat once again. On top of that, he’s rather unsettled. To have a dream once doesn’t necessarily mean anything, but to dream the same twice solidifies there is genuinely something Harry’s meant to learn from this. Something Harry’s meant to understand. Or maybe prevent? He’s not sure, but he truly wishes he was.

 

♤⚔ ♤⚔ ♤⚔

 

After a few more hours, Harry comes to more peaceful than the last, except for one little fact about him waking up to Will. The Alpha is emitting concern from every pore of his body, and Harry knows he’s at fault for it. _Why did he need to pull that stunt yesterday?_ Whether the captain will believe him or not, Harry’s learned his lesson. He may not like it, especially as a prince that is meant to take no orders from anyone other than his father, but Harry needs to listen to the captain. The Prince has been putting his own life in danger by choosing not to.

“Oh,” the Alpha says when the Omega’s eyes open. “How did you sleep.”

Sitting up first before he answers, Harry says, “Horribly, to be quite honest with you.”

“Because of what you saw last night?”

“No,” the Prince admits. “Some other stuff actually.”

“I see,” the captain barely lifts his eyes to glance at the Omega, and Harry only sees it as more of a reason to be further disappointed in himself.

“Why are you not at Port Royal with the crew?”

“I wanted to make sure you were alright. Niall offered to take you back but…Port Royal doesn’t fascinate me like it used to. I’d rather spend the night back at the ship, so why not kill two birds with one stone? Besides, I could tell Niall wanted to stay out.”

“That was very kind of you.”

The Alpha appears to be over having small talk as his next sentence releases with irritation, “You could have gotten yourself killed last night, Harry. Do you realize that,” he asks, burning his gaze into the Omega to emphasize how serious he is.

“I…yes. But-”

“There are no buts! I gave you an order, and you went against me! If you were my crew member I’d leave you behind without a second thought, but you’re not. And it’s making it incredibly difficult for me to figure out how to handle this.”

“You seemed to have no trouble the first time you tried to punish me,” Harry snaps.

“Yeah, except for the fact that I pushed you into an unsafe subdrop. I refuse to do that again.”

“Because of Liam?”

“What does Liam have anything do with this,” Will’s brows furrow with confusion. “I refuse because I don’t want to put you through that again. I can’t explain what it was like not being able to get you out of there, and not knowing if you were going to come out alright. I never meant to push you that far, and I don’t want to ever again.”

The care in the captain’s voice does something to Harry’s heart, but the Omega doesn’t want it to. Will has already made his peace about love, why would Harry allow himself to further any feelings for an Alpha that will never return it back?

“I never meant to upset you either, so you know,” the Omega confides. “I mean, I obviously intended to frustrate you because you frustrated me, but…not in the ways that I actually had. I am incredibly ashamed of my behavior, and I know it is not worth much, but I am indebted to you for saving my life – twice. And I am sorry, so so sorry, for betraying you last night and going out when you told me not to. But maybe, maybe instead of demanding something of me, in the future, you could just simply ask?”

“That’s all it takes?” Will wonders.

“That is all it will take.”

“And you,” Will returns, “Will you _please_ listen in return, if I ask you for something? Even if it’s not what you want? I just,” the Alpha exhales, initially seeming to be further aggravated until light chuckles are produced from his breath, “I can’t keep saving you princess, every time you get yourself into a bit of trouble. I can’t always be the one to rescue you.”

Harry rolls his eyes playfully at the damsel in distress insinuation, though he understands. “Yes, I promise to listen better. I...I never meant to cause you any stress.”

Stirring between them, the anger subsides into something new, though the Omega doesn’t know what. While he doesn’t want to fall prey to the captain’s cold heart, maybe if they tried, they could be friends? Well, _friendly._ Harry doesn’t think that he could ever attribute the term of friendship to what they have, but at least something better than what was before.

_That can’t be so bad, right?_

The Alpha huffs, “You know, Harry – maybe you’re not so bad after all.”

“I guess I could say the same to you,” the Prince teases.

“Oi!”

“Alright, alright,” Harry giggles. “You’re not so bad either, captain. But to be fair, I already knew that.”

“What do you mean?”

“I already knew that you were not as bad as the rumors that surround you. At least not to me.”

The room falls into a quiet hum of breathing between the two. Maybe Harry shouldn’t have said what he did? It had been an innocent afterthought as it parted from his mouth, but maybe it was too honest? Too close to something that neither one will ever actually have? When Harry’s sure he’s ruined the beginning of something good for them, a whisper is dropped like a grenade onto Harry’s heart.

“No,” Will carelessly confesses, “Never to you.”

Like a feeling Harry lost long ago, dusty butterflies awaken from their hibernation at the sudden admittance. They fly unhinged, rampant in the Omega’s stomach, rejuvenated after all these years by something so simple, yet meaningful. Harry doesn’t convey anything differently upon his features, but his insides are chaotic, wild, untamed. Outwardly, he sticks to the conversation as he jokes along, but inwardly he’s emotionally charged.

“It must be my incredible charm.”

“Ay,” the captain responds unaware to Harry’s struggle. “Something like that. Uh, Harry?”

“Yes?”

Scratching at the nape of his neck, shifting the feathery pieces of his hair, the Alpha timidly questions, “Do you…do you perhaps wanna go back to Port Royal?”

“I…wait,” the Omega’s head tilts in turmoil. “I thought…I thought we were resolving things? I thought this was going well? You want to leave me here? I…I cannot be left here captain, I -”

“No! That’s not what I meant, I meant…with me? Do you wanna go back and see Port Royal with me?”

“Oh,” Harry relaxes. “You would take me with you?”

“Yeah, darlin’. As long as you want me to?”

The Omega doesn’t even stop to think, “Yes.”

It’s strange how rapid the change in atmosphere becomes, but it’s welcomed. With the Omega’s confirmation, peace settles amongst them, lifting their frowns into hesitant grins and judgmental eyes into eager orbs. Harry quite likes this, likes having Will look at him with something other than disdain. Likes openly expressing feelings for the Alpha other than aggravation. Likes that whatever has shifted this day, their minds, their hearts - that it’s mutual. It’s not just the Omega that has an altered perspective, but the Alpha too, that’s converted.

Together, when the two head back towards the city, it appears to Harry strikingly different from when he went with Niall last night. He had been excited but scared, sticking close to the Beta to be unseen. But with Will by his side there is nothing to fear as he courageously follows the captain’s stride, not hiding his Omega status even once as they walk.

It’s liberating not to care, Harry realizes. All his life that’s all he’s done, all his family taught him to do - _to care about what others thought of him._ Well not tonight, not here and not now. The Omega rushes towards the bars to drink every drop, rushes to the restaurants to eat everything, and every time he hears the sound of music call his name, he rushes to the floor and dances and sways.

And no matter where he goes, no matter which edge of the city Harry runs to, Louis is close behind.

Side by side, they eat and drink and dance the day away. And at some point Harry grabs Will’s hand, and at some point the captain tells the Omega that he’s more beautiful than the sea, and at some point between midnight and morning - when their inebriated minds can’t keep them apart - they return back to the ship attached together like vines, even as they fall into bed.

The following morning Harry wakes up once again without Louis, but it’s not like the last. Instead, there’s a note in replace of the Alpha’s body notifying Harry to sleep as long as he needs, and it’s signed at the bottom with an ‘x.’

For Harry, that symbol is a promise of only better things to come, and for a while, it seems to be so.

 

♤⚔ ♤⚔ ♤⚔

 

Blue skies are infinite as Harry wakes up to another clear day. The crew is back from their somewhat holiday at the port, and Harry and Will are amicable with one another. There’s speculation behind their backs every time they pass one another and smile, soft murmurs from the crew who want to know the reasoning behind the sudden change in their treatment – but no one asks. And to be honest, it’s probably best that way.

Harry’s currently on his way to Liam when he bumps into someone else that he hasn’t adequately talked to in a while.

“Ed.”

The red-headed pirate grins, “Harry! How d’ya enjoy Port Royal?”

“It was incredible,” the Prince says. “Did you make good use of the break?”

The Alpha blushes while he answers with a wink, “I don’t kiss and tell, mate.”

“That is for the best,” the Omega jokes. “I have come to learn that there are quite a few gossips aboard.”

“Ay, you have no idea.”

Harry giggles, “I am sure.”

“You know,” the Alpha adds, “I’m glad I ran into you, ‘ve been meanin’ to talk to you for the past couple days.”

“Oh?”

“Ay, nothin’ bad or anythin’, just wanted to say that if you’re ever bored, you should stop by to see me. I mostly just steer the ship unless I have a break like now, but it’s not so bad in there. At least I like it.”

Harry grins, “I would be happy to.”

“Great! Well, you’re welcome anytime.”

“Alright, I will come by soon,” the Prince promises.

“Oi,” Ed adds when he’s about to leave, “And this may be random, but I never got a chance to apologize by the way, for makin' you scared that first day. I just wanted to get it out there, that I’m sorry - I really never meant to.”

“Ed, I have not even thought about it.”

“Okay well…thanks. See you later.”

“Bye!”

As Ed walks away, the Omega speculates all the numerous reasons for the apology. Harry has been here for a while now, and there has been ample time to make his feelings known. But maybe the Alpha never thought Harry would last this long? It could explain why he hadn’t bothered if he didn’t think the Prince was going to be sticking around. To be honest, the Omega is a little amazed too, by how long he’s lasted.

Really amazed.

 

♤⚔ ♤⚔ ♤⚔

 

Harry spends nearly all of his next morning with Niall, who goes into incredible detail over his weekend away. Strange moans are erupting from his mouth when he talks about the turtle soup he had, to which Harry expresses his disgust. And after, he tells of meeting a wonderful female Beta that ‘put his broken heart back to use,’ as Niall had so admiringly reported. Harry is happy for his friend for having found someone to spend the few days with, especially since Niall seems entirely renewed. He must have really needed the break.

“Speaking of hearts and all that, what’s goin’ on with you and Will?”

Harry chokes, “Nothing.”

Niall laughs aloud, “Ah, you know you’re terrible at lyin’, right?”

“We are cordial towards one another, is that not enough?”

“For us crew members possibly. Not for you.”

“Why is that,” he asks.

“I see the way you stare longingly at him. You might be foolin’ yourself, but you’re doin’ a terrible job tryin’ to fool me.”

“Do I really,” the Omega wonders.

“All the time.”

“Well then.”

Niall continues past Harry’s embarrassment, “What are you gonna do about it, hm?”

“I am afraid there is nothing I can do. Even you said so yourself, pirates do not want love.”

“Yeah, but that was before.”

“Before what?”

“Before Port Royal,” Niall answers as though obvious.

“Why does it matter what happened at Port Royal?”

“One,” Niall emphasizes by lifting up his fingers each time he counts, “He came to save you. Two, he didn’t punish you for your actions. Three, somethin’ happened between you two, and it’s why you’re acting nicer round one another. Four, he looks at you the same way you look at him. I’ve seen more affection from the captain towards you than I’ve ever seen from him in me whole life.”

“That all means nothing if he is dead set in his ways,” the Omega sadly replies. Niall’s list does tug at Harry’s heartstrings and makes him want to run directly into the captain’s arms and tell him to just do it. Just take a chance. Just see what happens, because what could be so wrong about falling in love? But Harry shoves it all away, refusing to give it any more attention than he has.

“Alright, I understand,” Niall says until he pipes up, “Oi! I almost forgot, I need a favor, and I’m only askin’ you cause you’re my best friend.” Harry warms incredibly at the label Niall’s given him, and listens intently as the Beta goes on, “Maybe not today, but someday this week, I need you to go in the captain’s office. That’s where he’s been sleepin’ since you got here, so just make sure he’s not there when you go in. I need you to find me a document with a dog on it.”

“Dog,” Harry asks bewildered.

“Yes.”

“You want _me_ to sneak into the captain’s office for a parchment with a _dog_ on it?”

“Yes.”

“Well okay,” the Omega shrugs. “The captain cannot know?”

“Will can’t know.”

Harry sighs heavily, “Alright…I just started to gain his trust back, but you called me your best friend and I have never had one before so I feel completely cornered. But Niall, for you – I will.”

“Ay! That’s me boy!”

Harry doesn’t feel the same excitement that Niall does, but now having a best friend makes up for that.

 

♤⚔ ♤⚔ ♤⚔

 

Observing for two days, Harry has the captain’s schedule memorized to mind. It appears that the Alpha stops back in for an afternoon nap, and once he leaves, he doesn’t return till dinner. Thus, after the nap – or whatever he does when he’s in for a while - is the exact moment Harry has chosen as his time to go in.

In the two days that have past, Niall has been reassuring Harry that it’s not so bad, but Will has been smiling and greeting Harry so kindly, it’s been ebbing away at him with guilt. The pleasantness has been startling to Harry’s system, and his Omega had been gladly preening under the treatment – the traitor.

“Good afternoon Gabe, how’s the ship,” Will asks as he comes out of his office, talking immediately with a person who’s passing by. They walk together down towards the lower deck, and Harry doesn’t waste a second as he races inside while the coast is clear.

The office is much like the captain’s quarters in design. It’s a mess, things all over the place it seems, but in the middle, there’s a large oak desk that sits in front of a massive window. The view is the best Harry’s seen, other than standing on the deck itself and looking out. Scanning around, Harry identifies the cot Will has been sleeping on these past couple of weeks, and Harry saddens at the sight. In comparison to the massive mattress the Omega has taken over, Will has been resting on a small piece of fabric. Harry is tempted to offer for them both to sleep in Will’s bed, but -

_Back to the task,_ the Prince snaps at himself before he gets more distracted.

Sneakily heading over to the desk, Harry moves around papers trying to find anything with a dog on it. This is by far the strangest request he’s ever been given in his entire life, but he doesn’t want to let Niall down. Pushing aside piles on the desk, he comes to nothing, so he pulls the draws open to further his search in there.

After five more minutes of going through each drawer, reading over every parchment, Harry comes to the last and final drawer wondering if Niall knows what he’s talking about. But Harry wants to be thorough, and he’s going to look through every single thing before he admits defeat. When he goes to pull the handle, it doesn’t immediately open. It’s as though it’s stuck, but with a little extra strength, Harry eventually pries it apart.

At the top of the pile, Harry does not find a dog – but the name that stands out to him stops him in his tracks.

**_Louis William Tomlinson_ **

Grabbing the paper, Harry inhales a gasp, seeing that it’s a birth certificate. _Why would Will have this? Was he the one that killed the Tomlinsons?_ Harry knows the family, in fact, he has met Louis multiple times throughout his childhood. Harry would go as far to say that they were the closest of friends. Possibly even closer.

Louis William Tomlinson was a prince, and his family was the Royal Family of France.

Seeing his name again, it stirs a million emotions inside of Harry, and he can’t fight the tears that fall due to the overwhelmingness of it all. However, the Omega doesn’t have a chance for a good cry, when the door to the office widens suddenly, and Will is gaping at Harry on the floor with documents strewn about him everywhere.

“What,” Will says quietly, “Have you done?”

Harry doesn’t care anymore, if Will took Louis’ life it would change so many things for him. “How do you know,” Harry shakily starts, “How do you know Louis Tomlinson?”

As soon as the name leaves Harry’s mouth, the captain sinks down to his knees and cries. It’s not the reaction Harry had been expecting. Rage? Sure. Anger? Absolutely. But sadness? Not even close.

“Harry, I’m afraid to inform you that I’ve been lying to you,” the captain slowly answers, “I’ve been lying to a lot of people actually.”

“What did you do?”

“I recognized you, you know? That’s how I knew you weren’t lying about your royalty when you showed me your ring. But I didn’t need the ring to know, I’d remember those electric green irises anywhere - _Hazza_.”

The Omega’s eyes well with a new batch of tears as he whispers carefully, “Lou?”

The Alpha is on him in seconds, holding him within his arms like they used to when they were young. There are so many questions Harry has, so many curiosities, but nothing is being asked until he gets what he needs out of this embrace. It’s the most important thing right now, this and Louis’ warmth surrounding him again.

After a minute, the captain – _Louis –_ drags his arms away and sits in front of Harry down on the floor. “I guess I should start from the beginning, yeah?”

“Yes. There is so much…so much I do not understand.”

“I guess I’ll start on the day everything changed. The rebellion. As you know, it’s widely understood that my family was killed by the group trying to take down the monarchy,” Louis’ eyes are bloodshot as he cries through his words, “I watched them kill my family,” he sobs. “At fourteen I witnessed my family’s murder.”

Harry touches the closest thing to him, Louis’ leg, gently rubbing his thumb into the calf with hopes of giving comfort to the Alpha. “You have no obligations to tell me if you are not ready.”

“No,” Louis answers, “I am. I need you to know.”

“Okay.”

“That day started out like any other, I was out in the yard reading when I heard the first scream. I dropped my book on the ground and ran as fast as I could towards the noise, hoping it wasn’t what I feared it was. But when I walked into the dining hall, Harry – there were men everywhere. Scattered all around, thrashing my home, burning my things, hurting _my family._ I was about to run and fight, but Liam grabbed me.”

“Liam, as in the Liam on this ship?”

“Yes. He was one of the royal guards back then, and one of my friends. Anyway, he grabbed me and told me we had to leave. I tried fighting back against him, and that’s when I heard West Harrington storming in the castle, screaming ‘Don’t let a single one of them get away! Especially not the children! Kill them all!’”

Harry is crying along with Louis now as he retells this horrible event for him. Harry had known, had heard the hushed comments fluttering about the Tomlinson family’s demise, but this…this is far worse.

“I don’t want to upset you or myself anymore, but I saw West kill my mother, and I tried to come after him, but Liam grabbed me and threw me outside. He saved my life, but sometimes I wonder if it would have been better to die altogether with them.”

“Louis,” the Omega grips harder, staring into the blue eyes he’s always loved, but now sees a little differently, “That is not true.”

The Alpha wipes away at his nose, “After that Liam took me to his hometown in England. I was still a child, and I needed to grow up first before I sought after the people who came for my family.”

“Is that one of the reasons that you kill?”

“Harry, it is the only reason I kill. I take my revenge out on only those who deserve it, or people who stand against me from achieving my goals. There is no kill without purpose.”

“I suppose I understand,” Harry nods. “This is off topic but, is living in England the cause of the loss of your accent? I remember you having the most wonderful French accent when you would speak to me.”

Louis flushes, his reddened cheeks shining brightly under his glossy tears, making him appear to be the most beautiful tragedy Harry’s ever stood to witness. It breaks his heart a million times over.

“Yes, more or less. I had to fit in, I had to act as though I had always lived in England, so I practiced day and night to cover up my accent as best as I could. Eventually, after years of training, I didn’t have to think so hard before speaking. It came naturally. By the time I was sixteen, I passed easily as a Brit.”

“What happened then?”

“Liam was around twenty when I turned seventeen, and we had gone to London to celebrate my birthday when we happened upon this bar. There was a huge crowd all around this one man saying no one could beat him in this game of cards. Liam – who is undoubtedly the best cards player I’ve ever known, stepped forward and asked what he would win if he beat the old man. The man was so sure Liam wouldn’t beat him, that he bet the most expensive thing he owned – his boat. Of course, Liam won, and it was that night that we formed an idea that lead us to this moment, I guess you could say.”

“To be pirates?”

“Well, not exactly,” he sadly chuckles as he reminisces “But ultimately yes. We actually wanted to be a trade ship, but our boat was overtaken by pirates on our first trip out. It was by this captain I’d never heard of, and I still remember when he got low in my face as asked me to sell my soul to his crew or walk the plank. I answered that I’d rather walk the plank, and apparently, that was the right answer because he welcomed me to stay. He said he’d rather have men who were brave in the face of danger and dared to face death, than someone who gave in too easily. From then on, Liam and I worked our way up the ranks, and when the captain died in combat, there was no surprise when I took over his place. That’s when the ship became The Black Dagger, and we earned our name as being the most ruthless pirates around.”

The Omega nods, “When did you become Will Tommo?”

“When Liam brought me to England. I needed a new name, a new identity. It’s actually why I didn’t want you to call me Will, and only captain. I…I never wanted to hear you call me anything other than my actual name.”

Pink taints the Omega’s cheeks, but Harry can’t get swept up yet, he has more to ask, “Makes sense, but uhm, if Liam is from England why was he a royal guard in France?”

“His mate. They’ve known each other for so long it’s hard to keep track of when they actually met, but at some point when they were younger, Liam’s family took a trip to Paris. They met there and ever since, Liam’s devoted his heart to her. When he was old enough to move out, he went straight to France and found the only job that had been hiring – a royal guard. Back then they lived together with her family. I know I don’t deserve the loyalty he has to me. He’s dropped everything in his life to follow me around the world, and I am forever in his debt. I’ll never know another man as great as him.”

“That is pretty incredible,” Harry offers. “I wish I had someone like that when I was back in England. But you know, you could have come to us? My family would have taken you in immediately.”

Louis’ eyes fill with sorrow, “I thought about it, about you, so much when I was there. But if I showed up, I would have been thrown right back into the society that I was thankful to be out of. The only good to come from the rebellion was my loss in title, and if I had to maintain it, I wouldn’t have been able to achieve all that I have. But Harry, _Hazza_ – I never stopped thinking about you.”

The Omega tears up, “There is no amount large enough to count all the tears I cried when I found out what happened. To say I missed you - your family - would be a vast understatement.”

The Alpha clutches Harry’s hand, “I promise you a thousand times I missed you more.”

Harry’s mind succumbs to useless mush.

It must be apparent, the state Louis’ put Harry into, because he reels his hands back, clears his throat and changes the subject. “Well, now you know what happened to me all these years. How about you? How did you end up here?”

Harry bites his lips, not sure how to tell his own life for the past few years. “The most exciting part of my life, Lou – was during the few Summers we had come to visit you. Back at the castle my family never cared for me. Gemma obviously did, but no one else. I presented late, actually. They all thought I was a Beta and for two years that seemed the case until I hit eighteen and went into my first heat. After that, it was hardly a week before they arranged me to mate Alpha Prince Dante of Italy.”

“Oh god,” Louis groans as his sapphire eyes roll with distaste, “Not that douchebag.”

“You remember him?”

“Vaguely, the guy was a prick.”

“Tell me about it! I tried to refuse, but my parents only fought back more. My mating had nothing to do with love, but how it benefited them. We were on the ship heading to Italy actually when you took it over.”

“I’m glad I did it then,” Louis says.

“Is that erm,” the Omega hesitates to ask, “Is that why you let me live?”

“Hm?”

“Because you recognized me?”

“I…yeah. I mean I know you offered yourself, but I wouldn’t have killed you anyway.”

“What about my father?”

“I wasn’t going to kill him either. Hurt him maybe to uphold my appearance, and for all the shit he’s put you through, but not kill.”

It all makes sense now. Why Louis never was as mean to him as he had been to his crew. Why he was always there to rescue Harry when the Omega was in trouble. Why Louis nor Liam talked like commoners, much less pirates. Why everytime Louis would get close - he would run away.

Not to mention how it answers all the riddles Harry had about himself and his Omega, and why they had been so enraptured, so captivated, by the Alpha since the very beginning. Because technically to Harry’s Omega, it wasn’t actually their start. _It was their reunion_. It’s evident now that Harry’s Omega has known all along about who _Will Tommo_ is to him, recognizing the Alpha for who he really is. Harry’s a little disappointed that he didn’t figure it out himself, but he’s glad to know now. So glad.

“Lou?”

“Hm?”

“Do you remember the time with the butterflies?”

There’s a rising smile on the Alpha’s face at the question, “How could I forget?”

**Flashback:**

_“Lou! Lou! Look,” Harry’s eight-year-old body tripped over its own feet all the time, and did so again as he animatedly pointed to a butterfly landing on a sunflower. Louis comes beside him with laughter emitting like a melody from his lips._

_At this moment in time, Harry doesn’t know which he loves more - the butterfly or Louis._

_“Hazza, you’re going to hurt yourself one of these days.”_

_“But look Lou, it’s a monarch!”_

_Louis’ gaze follows Harry’s finger that’s outstretched towards the beautiful creature. As Harry watches, Louis glances back to find a tear escaping Harry’s now welling eyes._

_“Haz? What’s wrong?”_

_“My father,” he stops to search around first, to see if anyone is near enough to listen. “My father killed a butterfly in front of me the other week.”_

_“Aw,” Louis frowns, pulling the younger boy into his arms. “I wish I was there, I would have never let him do that to you.”_

_“You’re only ten, what could you have done,” Harry sadly smiles._

_“I would have done anything for you.”_

_Louis’ Parisian accent romanticizes the words even more so into Harry’s fragile heart, filling it in a way he’s never had anybody do. When he’s around Louis, his heart always feels so full, so heavy. Nowhere else does it even come close._

_Harry doesn’t say anything, but he grabs onto Louis’ hand as they look at the butterfly a little while longer. He knows no one is watching them other than the guards. Gemma is inside playing with Louis’ other sisters, while his parents are talking with Louis’ parents. It’s as alone as they’ll ever be, and Harry takes full advantage._

_“I wish we could stay like this forever,” the young Prince admits._

_“Maybe we could?”_

_“How?”_

_Gently gliding through Harry’s hair, Louis’ fingers come around to Harry’s chin as they lift the boy’s viridian orbs to his Atlantic gaze. “I could marry you? And we could live in a little cottage in the woods, and watch all the butterflies we want, come into our garden. I’d read on a little bench while you tend to the flowers, and at night we can sing each other our favorite lullabies.”_

_If Harry thought his heart was full before, now it’s overloaded._

_“But…what about our genders? We could both be Alphas. Or even Omegas!”_

_Louis lays the lightest of kisses on Harry’s cheek, it’s the first time he’s ever done so, and Harry hopes and prays it isn’t the last. When Louis speaks again the words travel over Harry’s lips and sink like stones into the waves of his heart._

_“I’d still marry you, Harry.”_

**End**

The vision dissolves, and Harry watches Louis watching him. The room is swimming in nostalgia, but there’s something else underneath, and Harry knows it so clearly now. Clearer than before.

But Harry can’t admit it to himself because now he truly comprehends why Louis is so afraid to fall in love. He lost his family, everyone that was closest to him, all in one day. Harry doesn’t blame him for not wanting to risk the chance of going through something so horrible again.

Because even if Harry promised a thousand times for nothing bad to happen to him, promised that the Omega would always be by Louis’ side – he could never guarantee that promise. Something could happen, and Louis would be left alone with the guilt for eternity. And that chance, though minuscule, is enough to deter him completely.

So what does Harry do now?

 

♤⚔ ♤⚔ ♤⚔

 

**DANTE POV**

“Sire, the ship is only a few days out from Port Royal, but may I ask – what are we doing heading to Pirate territory?”

Dante doesn’t flinch at the sudden question called out to him by his bodyguard. Retaining his attention to the view before him, he watches through the window of his room at the infinite expanse of ocean scenery. The light seeping past the transparent glass brightens his tan skin, but he still appears dull in comparison to his ordinarily rich, vibrant qualities.

It’s due to stress, and a lack of sleep.

“We are going to get my mate.”

“Yes,” the guard understands, coming to Dante’s side to inquire again, “But why there of all places?”

This time, the Alpha Prince’s eyes shift just enough to peer at the elder man beside him. “Because, where do pirates go when they need supplies? Hm? Port Royal is the largest city in the Caribbean, the chances that they have stopped there is high.”

“True, however, do you not think they might be at least two weeks ahead of us? They probably left the port already.”

“Then it serves us even better,” Dante coldly replies.

“Why’s that?”

“Because if they have left Port Royal, they will most likely be heading back towards the Mediterranean, which means –”

“That we’ll reach them before they reach their next destination.”

“Precisely,” is slithered out through Dante’s malicious smirk.

“And what will we do once we’ve come upon them, your majesty?”

“What we came to do... _fight._ ”

 

♤⚔ ♤⚔ ♤⚔

 

“Is it even a hiding place if I am not hiding anymore,” Harry asks Liam as they’re located in their usual spot. Grey expands above them as it stretches it’s clouds to each end of the world, or at least, each end of Harry’s world. It’s not raining thankfully, but the lack of sun dampens everyone’s mood regardless. Even in Harry’s hideout with Liam, his favorite spot aboard the dagger, he still can’t find it in himself to be happy. Not entirely.

“I’m not sure what you mean, Harry.”

“Never mind,” the Omega says. “Hey, where are we heading to by the way? I never thought to ask since we left the last port.”

“We’re on our way to Spain, Will has some business with a person over there.”

“Ah, I have never been to Spain.”

“It’s pretty nice,” Liam supplies.

“It must be hard being fairly close to home and not being able to stop.”

“How did you -”

“I know, Liam.”

Brown eyes pierce into Harry until they surrender their defenses, “He told you?”

“Essentially. You know, I knew Louis when we were younger. Really well actually.”

Hearing Harry say the name _Louis_ , startles the Alpha visibly. Harry technically didn’t have to say it, but this way - this way Liam knows without a doubt that the Omega is informed about everything.

“Yeah,” Liam says, “He had mentioned being acquainted with the royal family of England when I brought him back home with me. I was never aware as to the extent though, he didn’t discuss much about his family after the incident, and I was only with the royal guard for a year at that point. If the rebellion had never happened, you and I would have probably met back then.”

“Is that not a strange thought to think? A lot would be different if that never happened.”

The Alpha nods, “Everything would be different.”

Maybe Harry would have been married to Louis by now? Off living in their cottage, escaping from the world as they lived amongst the flowers and the trees, watching beautiful butterflies pass by all day. Or maybe Harry would have been arranged to mate with Louis, and the two princes wouldn’t have had to run off? Getting to display their love for all within their kingdoms to see. Or maybe...maybe they wouldn’t have been together at all? Harry arranged to Dante and Louis arranged to someone else, never getting a chance for Will Tommo to use his pirate ship to keep Harry from reaching the Italian shores.

Imagine that?

Besides the Prince, Liam stands from the ground where he had been lounging, and stares at the Omega, “It doesn’t do us any good to dwell on that, however.”

“No, it does not,” Harry admits, though it doesn’t help him from overthinking. Though it doesn’t stop him from taking every path his riddled mind takes him too. _What if this? What if that?_ A million questions pass similarly into the next hour, the Alpha long gone and the Omega no better off than he was before. Liam was certainly right in his assertion, it’s not doing him any good to dwell. Coming to the conclusion that Harry will never know all the “what could have beens,” the Prince lifts himself up to leave.

It’s probably for the best that he doesn’t know anyway, it wouldn’t change the way things are now.

 

♤⚔ ♤⚔ ♤⚔

 

A few more days tumble into one another, and it all seems so effortless – living on the ship. There’s no stress, not in the sense that Harry knew it before. There are other pirates that aren’t as well off as they are, but The Black Dagger is holding its own. There’s no shortage of food, there are no imminent threats. The only concern is making sure the ship stays afloat as they bask in another sunny sky.

While Harry always spends his mornings with Niall, his afternoon routine has altered a bit in the past few days. He’s been spending nearly all his time with Louis. No longer the secret grins, but actual conversations as they walk together from place to place. Within those strolls, they talk about memories they share and memories they don't, both intrigued with what came of all these years apart. More often than not, Louis has something vastly thrilling to share compared to Harry's mediocre adolescence, but nevertheless, the captain appears just as interested. And if there's no chance for a talk to be had, then Harry will lounge in peace as the captain works in his office, or watch with enthusiasm as the captain trains with his men.

No matter what he is doing, Louis is someone that Harry could sit and admire all day.

With another afternoon coming into its own, Louis ends his training early to question Harry, “Are you not bored yet of seeing me do the same thing?”

“Boredom is subjective.”

“Yes, and your point?”

The Omega laughs broadly, his dimples out on display, “I am not bored watching you.”

The Alpha’s cheeks color as he’s flustered and Harry is proud of the reaction he has caused. “Still, don’t you wanna do something? Are there any jobs you’d want to take part in? Are there any, I don’t know – _things_ you wanna do?”

“Not particularly,” the Omega says.

“What did you do back in England other than annoy Gemma?”

The Prince giggles, “Unless I was tending to the garden, I was writing.”

“You write,” Louis asks in awe.

“It may not be any good, but yes I did enjoy putting pen to paper when I had the chance,” Harry blushes.

“I have blank journals that you can have.”

“Oh Lou, I –”

“Haz, please. Let me give them to you so that you have something to do.”

“I mean,” the Prince draws out, biting his bottom lip in hesitation until he gives in, “If you insist?”

“I do.”

After that, if Harry’s not watching Louis, then he’s writing in his journal, still somewhere near the Alpha while he trains or works. Some days he scribbles lines of poetry, some days there are pages of prose. Regardless of the form Harry’s writing takes on, there’s only one primary person it’s entirely about. It’s not at all surprising as to who his inspiration is, but it does frighten the Omega slightly by what it means.

All throughout their youth, Harry had feelings for Louis, and the fact that Louis has become ‘ _Will Tommo of The Black Dagger,’_ changes not an inch of the state of his emotions. For the first time in so long, Harry has the same sense of being full that he had when he was young. He’s not shying away from it, he’s not going in the opposite direction. The Omega is latching on to this sensation and never letting it go.

He just wishes he could make Louis feel the same.

 

♤⚔ ♤⚔ ♤⚔

 

Waking up too early, the Prince leaves the cabin to sit out on the deck. He’s never had the means to properly observe a sunrise, and with so much congesting in his head, it sounds utterly nice. As he gets adjusted against the ledge, the image above reveals itself in shades of black and purple, and at the very edge of the horizon where the world meets the sky, a line of red is drawn.

“Can’t sleep?”

Harry senses Louis beside him before he peers to see him there, leaning over the railing as the former French Prince looks out across the sea. The view of the Alpha is breathtaking, absolutely picturesque as the golden light shimmers into every ounce of Louis’ face, making his celestial eyes come alive in the warmth. It’s hypnotic. Harry is entranced, and the Omega prays desperately that this sight saves to his memory for the rest of time.

“No, afraid not,” the Omega says when he finally locates the words he needs to respond.

“Me neither,” a pause intertwines until Harry hears, “Is there anything I can do?”

There are so many different ways the Omega can go about this. So many different requests, so many different replies. He has so many more questions he wants to ask, but there are also certain things he would like for Louis to do - like sleep with Harry again. The Omega would love for the Alpha to stay another evening with him, and he thinks it could help his nightly struggles. But then again, so can asking the questions that have been keeping him up in the first place, with their loud reminders inside his head.

Harry chooses to play it safe for now as he asks, “Why had you not told me?”

“Tell you what?”

“About you, about becoming Will? On that first day when I was locked up in your room, why had you not said it then?”

Louis rotates his torso from facing the sky to Harry, a frown immediate on his lips, “Because Harry, you were this beaming emblem of my childhood, a part of my life I had done everything in my power to eradicate. I didn’t wanna be Prince Louis Tomlinson of France, I didn’t wanna relive those haunting moments in my life. So I clung onto Will even harder, and I tried to assert my dominance even more, though that all horrifically backfired. Every day I was struggling to treat you the way Will Tommo would treat you, except Louis Tomlinson would never dare do those things, and he was sure to make it known. It was all so confusing.”

“I guess I understand, though it still upsets me.”

“I don’t blame you,” the Alpha says, smirking somberly, “Not at all. And if you’re done with me or don’t wanna talk to me again, I’d understand. But you have to know...I was so terrified, Harry. Terrified to allow myself to be close to you, because I knew...I knew once I did I’d never be able to uphold this facade of Will Tommo again. And even when all I had left was this name, this fake name, I still hadn’t given up because I was too afraid to get close just to lose you in the end. I still feel afraid, but now you know, and it changes things. I can be more honest about myself, about what I feel.”

“You have to understand,” Harry informs. “That even though your family is gone, their love for you is not. Their presence, their spirit - it is all around you, within you. I cannot promise that I will not be physically taken from you, but Lou - even then, I will never fully be gone. I will always be by your side, as long as you want me there.”

“You don’t understand what you’re asking of me.”

A pensive expression catches to his face, “And what is that?”

“You’re asking me to give up a part of myself that has become all I know. I may be willing to allow Louis back in, but that doesn’t mean I can throw Will away.”

“Hey, hey,” the Omega calms, grabbing onto Louis’ hand, “I will never ask you to leave The Black Dagger, nor this life. I am as much a part of it as you are.” The instant concern melts from the Omega as a few chuckles send away from his lips, “You know, if someone had asked me what I imagined my future to consist of, it is safe to say piracy would not have been on that list,” Harry jokes. “But you know what I would have said?”

“What,” the Alpha questions.

“I would have said that I would be somewhere with you. And after all these years that hasn’t changed. I will follow you anywhere, even if that means being on this ship, to be with you.”

Louis is on the cusp of weeping, trying hard to maintain himself together. Harry doesn’t care how impulsive he’s being, he doesn’t care if he’s admitting too much. Having lost Louis all those years ago, ruined so much for the Omega, and now that he has the Alpha back he’s not withholding anything again. Harry never wants to go another day wondering if Louis knew what Harry felt for him before he died. Wondering if Louis knew that Harry was in love with him before he was killed. No, he’s going to make sure that he takes advantage of this chance by telling Louis precisely what he feels for the Alpha, no matter how hard it is to confess.

He wants Louis to hear every single damn emotion until he knows Harry’s heart better than his own name.

“I,” the Alpha stutters, “I can’t make this choice today, I can’t choose anything today. But...you’ve always meant everything to me, Hazza, and you should know that. You should know that it’s always been you.”

Harry swipes at the tear that runs away onto his cheek, but he’s not upset, just overwhelmed. Louis tightens his grip on the Omega, and they stand there for a while just basking in each other as the world above them changes. Eventually, the Alpha incites them both to turn back, to watch as the sun begins to lift, raising its vivid orange paint across the cloudy shadows above.

   

As they both observe, Harry glances at the sun until like a magnet he’s drawn back to Louis. Staring at the Alpha, the Omega remembers a time that he believed himself to be similar to a sunset, in truth, he still stands by that concept. But if Harry Styles is a sunset, then Louis Tomlinson is a sunrise – demanding the world to watch him ascend upon them, chasing the darkness away. He is unabashed in his presence as he enters into a room, warming all that’s around him as he does. And he’s not just a bright yellow all the time, but gentle reds, calming blues, and striking corals that coalesce into the fiercely perplex creature that he is. This fiercely ethereal creature that he is.

As Harry comes to this understanding, he yearns with a desire to tell Louis as such. To let Louis know exactly what the Omega thinks of him as. Because the Alpha needs it, he needs to hear it said to him every hour of every day, he needs to be smothered in all the praise and affection - he needs to be loved. That’s why Louis' so afraid of it, because even though he doesn’t want it, he knows he needs it. But not just any kind, he needs a good, strong, unyielding love and Harry has it in bounds to give. Louis just has to open his eyes and realize that it’s there for him to take, that it’s always been there for him to take.

Sucking up his courage as the sun rises high, reflecting its brilliance in the waves below, Harry utters hopelessly to the remaining morning air.

“Alpha Prince Louis of France – _you_ are the most magnificent sunrise of them all.”

Lasting long enough for the echo to dim, the Omega walks away after that, terrified that he might surrender another truth about himself. The only other truth about himself.

That he’s entirely and vehemently, in love with Louis.

 

♤⚔ ♤⚔ ♤⚔

 

They dock in Barcelona, and Harry gets to leave the ship this time – but only because his heat has arrived. Louis finds him a safe house where Omegas can spend their heats, and is provided with all the necessary tools they could possibly need. Louis pays for the expense out of pocket, and Harry wants to ask the Alpha to spend it with him, but he can’t find the words in time before Louis is off again.

It’s a long four days without him.

When the Alpha finally comes to pick the Omega up, they return to the ship with so much left unsaid between them. Harry wants to know how Louis has been. He wants to know what Louis did in the past few days. _Did he think about Harry? Did he miss Harry?_

Because Harry spent his entire heat doing nothing but missing Louis.

For every word the Omega wants to say, the longer the silence seems to last. Neither is sure where to begin. Eventually, Harry asks anything just to say something, “Where are we headed next?”

Witnessing the blue of Louis’ eyes convert into despair is hardly enough warning before he speaks out, “We’re heading to England.”

“You are taking me home?”

“No, Harry. I’m setting you free.”

Louis goes to his office, and Harry stands shock still on the deck. No. Harry does _not_ want to go back to England. There is nothing for him in England. Doesn’t Louis understand? Doesn’t he get it? The freest Harry’s ever been is as a prisoner on this ship. This is what he wants. This is where he belongs.

Harry runs off with speed, hoping no one catches sight of the tears departing from his eyes. He initially wanted to go to his room, but his room is everything of Louis, his favorite items, his clothes, _his smell_. Harry needed a place to be relieved from Louis, not immersed. Climbing to his hiding spot, the Omega wails into his hands, uncaring if anyone hears him from below. _What did Harry do to cause this fate? What did Harry do to make Louis so scared that he has to bring Harry back home?_ Harry thought that after that morning, after that sunrise, that they were on the cusp of something - on the edge of something great. _What did he do wrong?_

Hours pass before the Omega returns from the spot. He feels hazy, not completely there. As if crying had used up all the water in his body, he feels weightless. _How can this be?_ Suddenly, there are now days left, there’s a timeline until he’s held as a captive to his family’s demands. _How can Louis do this to him?_

It seems there really is no love in piracy.

 

♤⚔ ♤⚔ ♤⚔

 

“Niall, what do I do?”

The Beta is next to him as they sit below deck in Niall’s hammock. “I really don’t know,” comes out solemnly from his lips.

“I did everything I could. I thought…I thought I was making a difference.”

“Harry, you did!”

“Not enough apparently.”

“I don’t know how to turn this around,” Niall sadly replies. “But I do know that you should not spend these next few days feelin’ sorry for yourself. You put your heart on the line, you did everythin’ right. Sometimes there’s nothin’ more that can be done.”

Harry cries abundantly again, and Niall immediately wraps the Omega up into his arms to comfort him. “I love him so much, Ni,” Harry weeps into the Beta’s chest.

“I know you do. I know. But it’s gonna be alright. I promise everythin’ is gonna be alright.”

A few minutes come and go, and though his sobbing has not come close to an end, Harry peels his head up to ask of his friend, “I never got a chance to bring it back up, but the dog papers, did you...?”

“Ay. I knew.”

Harry nods, “Thank you.”

They stay like that for another hour, Niall running his fingers through Harry’s hair as the Omega lays his head on the Beta’s lap. However tonight, Harry’s not just crying because he won’t be with Louis. He’s crying for the removal of this life. Niall has become Harry’s closest friend in years, and Louis is taking all that away from him, too. Everything Harry’s comes to love will be gone.

Later in the evening when Harry falls asleep beside the Beta, the dream he thought he had been rid of reappears again.

_There they are, he and his lover lounging in the meadow. Except for this time, for the first time, the body is faceless no more. This time, it’s Louis that lays beneath him, taking in the warmth. Harry doesn’t wait as he grabs hold of Louis’ hand and prepares for the storm. Unlike climbing the trees like last time, he has another idea in mind._

_When the flood comes in, Harry helps Louis swim out into the water that’s overtaken the land. When the boat comes into sight, Harry dips below the abyss, holding his breath as he watches the wooden bottom of the ship sail above them on the surface._

_Harry hopes this works. He really hopes this works._

_Rising back up from the depths, Harry grabs Louis’ hand as they leap onto the ship and attack from behind. Dante spots them, his ever-present smirk settled in place. Running up to the Alpha, Harry begins to attack, but Dante is one step ahead and captures the Omega in his arms painfully. Now it’s up to Louis to rescue them both._

_“He’s mine,” Dante screams while Louis comes closer, but the pirate doesn’t stop._

_It’s relieving, the sense of someone coming to your rescue. Except when Harry thinks Louis’ pointing his sword at Dante, the Omega comes to an unfortunate realization that the blade is actually up to his own exposed neck instead._

_What sick, twisted turn of events is this?_

_Both the Alphas loom over him with vicious intent etched into their eyes. Harry can’t free himself, he can’t break away and fight. He’s completely trapped. When Louis’ sword is lifted for the final act of betrayal, Harry can’t do anything but watch as the sword collides._

Awakening, the Omega sits up in the bed with panic. He tries his best not to wake up Niall in his attempt to regain equilibrium, breathing heavily from his lungs as he does. No matter how much air he takes in though, he still feels breathless. While he controls his inhales and exhales, Harry also uses these seconds to think. Every dream Harry had, he failed. _What did he do wrong?_ He drowned the first time so he climbed the next, he was shot at that time so he attacked after. _What else could he have done?_

Each time there was something different in the dream, well - except for Louis. Every single once, Harry had fought to save the both of them. Which is incredibly upsetting since the Alpha double-crossed him in the end. Although maybe that was the issue all along? This entire time Harry had been trying to come up with ways for them to make it past Dante. Make it out together. When in retrospect that probably wasn’t what he needed to do, to accomplish.

He spent all that time trying to save Louis when he really should have been trying to save himself.

 

♤⚔ ♤⚔ ♤⚔

 

The day after next is when everything happens.

Harry is with Liam and Niall as they both try to comfort him, until a startling scream comes from above. “Ship ahead!”

There have been times when ships have been close, and nothing comes of it, but they all stand on guard just in case. Niall tugs Harry down to his secret location in the kitchens, waiting it out as they listen for any sign of fighting from above. It feels like an eternity has passed, Harry mistaking the quiet for nothing to fear until he’s proven wrong.

“Fight!”

The single action is yelled by Louis, as the entire crew of men cheer back in unison. Harry’s never been onboard during a battle, except for the time that he was taken. The sound of metal clanging together is piercing, even below, causing Harry to cover his ears with his hands. The Beta gives the Omega a concerned look, but neither dare leaves their spot.

Eventually, men come tumbling down the stairs, some held up in combat, some searching around. Harry dips his head lower until he hears, “Find my Omega!”

And that…that is Dante’s voice.

It dawns upon Harry what has arisen and when he realizes that men are losing their lives over this, he stands up immediately. He doesn’t want anyone to fight over him. He doesn’t want anyone to die over him. The Alpha spots him instantly, staring unsurely at Harry until the smirk that had burned itself into Harry’s dreams, takes over his face.

“Harry – my mate. I have come for you.”

A chill of horror cascades across Harry’s skin, and Niall grips onto the Omega’s leg in an attempt to stop him, but he goes towards Dante despite it all. Louis didn’t want him anyway, right? With Louis taking the Omega back to his kingdom, this would have been his outcome anyway. Right back into the Italian Prince’s arms.

Once within his reach, Dante grabs Harry firmly by the hair, and snaps, “You have been a bad Omega, but I’m going to take you home now, where you belong.”

Forcing Harry to walk to the upper deck with him, Harry is guided towards the edge of the ship where the other boat is positioned. It seems people are so caught up in the combat, that no one has noticed the Omega Prince being dragged away. At least it’ll be over soon.

“Oi! Where do you think you’re taking him?”

Dante whirls around at the question, “Oh Captain Will Tommo, I presume? How nice of you to show. I’m afraid I cannot stay, however, I only came to collect what belongs to me. We’ll be on our way now.”

“I don’t give a single fuck what you think, you are not leavin’ this ship with him.”

“And why is that?”

“Because he’s _my_ Omega,” Louis yells just as he leans forward to swipe at Dante. When the weapon eases in, Dante uses Harry’s body to shield him, causing Louis to miss his aim. The Alpha captain growls, and the Alpha Prince snarls, but Harry - he’s basking in the fact that Louis called the Omega _his._ But...this is not the right time nor place to be fantasizing about their lives together, Harry realizes, or all their future children.

_Get it together you fool,_ Harry internally screams.

Returning back to the situation at hand, the Omega makes a connection he hadn’t put together prior. This is exactly like his final dream he had two nights ago. Exactly the same predicament where Harry is being held by Dante, and Louis has to rescue them both. But Harry learned something important from that dream, he learned something truly valuable, and something he’s going to always keep in mind for any future situations.

Harry has to save himself.

The two Alphas are yelling at one another, Louis with his sword up to attack, Dante with his body protected by Harry’s. Using the element of surprise, the Omega moves in one graceful motion, whipping from the Italian Prince’s grip until his elbow collides with the Prince’s face. Harry must thank Liam for that move, it’s the only one he was taught after the Port Royal fiasco.

“Ouch, you fucking cunt! Who do you think you are to touch me like that,” Dante screams as he covers his bloody nose. With his other hand, he reaches out to choke Harry’s neck, but before his fingers have a chance to grip, Louis’ sword eliminates them by cutting at his wrist.

“Touch him again, and I will not hesitate to cut off your other hand,” Louis warns coldly.   

Dante drops to his knees, clutching his injuries to himself as he screams, “Ah! Fuck! He was fucking promised to me, I will not fucking tolerate this!”

“Then prepare to die,” Louis threatens, grabbing his sword tightly. The Alpha Prince gulps at the sight of the blade in front of him, and stands up in pain, “Fine! But this is the one time I’m letting you get away with taking something that is mine. The next time you do, it’ll be _your_ life on the line,” Dante vows before blowing a whistle and stepping off. Within ten minutes the men have retreated, and their ship is pulling away.

Harry almost feels eased by their retreat. Almost.

 

♤⚔ ♤⚔ ♤⚔

 

After the crew has tended to their wounds, celebrated their win, and drunken an absorbent amount of alcohol, Louis finally comes knocking at Harry’s door. The second that it opens, Harry turns around, standing a few feet from the Alpha, though it’s like they’re miles apart.

Harry quietly admits, “You saved me once again, Lou.”

“I will always save you, Hazza.”

Harry cries, right there before Louis completely unashamed. Sitting down on the bed, the Alpha comes next to him, rubbing against his back. The Omega appreciates the gesture, but he has more to say. Within Louis’ arms, Harry peers up at him and says the words that have been taking hostage in his heart since he was a kid.

“Louis, I love you.”

The Alpha runs his thumb across Harry’s cheek, not expressing the joy at hearing those words like the Omega had hoped he would. “I feel the same way, I do. But I can’t say it back until you’re no longer a prisoner of mine.”

“When have I ever been your prisoner? Truly?”

“It’s not the point.”

Harry slides from Louis’ arms, “It is. If you take me back to England, Lou, they will never let me leave again. They will hold me against my will, and force me to mate another Alpha Prince that they find suitable.”

“I’m sorry,” Louis says. “But I have to do this. I just, I can’t accept your love knowing you’ve been held here against your will. I want to know that this is really where you want to be. I want to know that when you’re back in England, you’d still pick here over the castle you call home.”

“Louis, I could have a million castles – none of them would be home without you.”

“You say that now, but one day you could grow to resent me. I don’t want that, Harry. I already told you that there’s no love in this life, but you’ve made me feel things I thought I had lost. But I…I can’t go on, risk everything for the both of us if it’s not entirely what you want. I can’t bear that guilt.”

“And bringing me back to England is the only way for me to prove this to you?”

Louis sighs, “It’s the only way I know how. I have to let you go, I have to let you decide this lifestyle, this love, for yourself.”

Louis presses a kiss into Harry’s cheek, something Harry had hoped for so long ago, though now he wishes he didn’t know how it felt to be there. How Louis’ warmth felt to take hold there. There’s no sleep for the remainder of the night, and come morning, Harry is faced with the unwelcoming sight of his family’s castle. There are embraces between a few of the crew members such as Liam and Ed, and Niall sobs as he tangles Harry into a hug, but the sight of the ship sailing away from shore without the Omega - is the hardest of all. Even harder than Louis’ longing glance of goodbye.

All too soon, Harry is approached by guards who bring him into his weeping mother’s arms. His father doesn’t display any trace of happiness when he sees Harry alive, but at least his sister makes up for it in heaps. Clutching onto his torso, squeezing him so tight that he’s sure she’s never going to let him go again.

Her embrace is the only thing Harry finds that feels nice.

Once the homecoming is done, the Omega Prince is sent to his room to wash the filth from his skin. Claire prepares a hot bath for him to take, and it’s quite easy Harry notes, falling back into this routine. But it’s not what he wants. He doesn’t want routine, he doesn’t want prepared, he doesn’t want planned out. Harry wants daring and dangerous and reckless, arriving at each day not knowing what’s to come. He wants purpose and passion and exhilaration, and this - this is not that. This was never that.

Letting the water swell around him, Harry thinks about that day out at sea, when he asked fate to change what was to come, to change the arrangement. When _Will_ showed up, Harry couldn’t imagine how he was the answer the Omega was seeking, but Harry sees it now.

Reminiscing as he soaks, Harry recalls that he asked to be _brought home,_ and sitting in this castle Harry has never thought of it as such. That’s why fate didn’t bring him back here. That’s why fate brought him back to Louis. Because the Alpha is the only home the Omega’s ever claimed. So technically fate had given him exactly what he wanted, he just hadn’t realized it at the moment.

Not that it matters now anyway. Harry’s right back into a society of politics and etiquette and Omegas being less than they are. Struck back into this family that will use his bond as a bargaining chip for the next kingdom to possess. But the Omega doesn’t care anymore, not like before. Because now he’s experienced love, felt love. They will never be able to take that away from him.

And while his parents will try their best to find the next best Alpha Prince, Harry is no longer the best Omega to mate. He’s cheeky, opinionated, defiant, and insubordinate in all the ways an Omega is not meant to be. So good luck to his parents, Harry thinks, in their attempt to locate another mate. In fact, it will be all the more amusing to watch as his parents bring Alpha after Alpha to their home in hopes of a deal, only for them to meet Harry and walk out. It will be all the more enjoyable to see as his parents give lesson after lesson in the hopes of refinement, only for none of them to work. No, none of them will work at all.

Because being caught by Will Tommo has ruined Prince Harry Styles for good.

 

♤⚔ ♤⚔ ♤⚔

 

“Who is it?”

A week back into royalty, and Harry is staring out his bedroom window at the sunrise climbing over the wooded mountains when Gemma comes in with a cup of tea.

“What?”

She smirks with an all-knowing glance, “Who is it that you have fallen in love with?”

Harry huffs, “I know nothing of what you are talking about.”

“You would think after being on a pirate ship for months you would have learned how to lie better.”

“I guess not.”

She eyes him, demanding with her gaze that he spill the truth. It’s a look that in all his years of existence, he has never learned to defeat, “Louis Tomlinson.”

Gemma falters around her sip, “ _Louis Tomlinson?_ But he…he is dead?!”

“It is a long story.”

“Is he coming back for the crown? His cousins that they have put in place of him are not nearly as qualified for the position.”

“No Gem, he is not coming back.”

The silence is daunting after Harry says that out loud.

“So go back to him.”

The Omega whips around to stare incredulously at his sister, “Gemma!”

“What? It is not like you are happy here. You have been home hardly a week, and your mood has only worsened.”

“Mother and father would never let me leave.”

“Who said you had to ask?”

“I…I…”

“Harry, sometimes opportunities are presented to us, sometimes they are not. But if you want something, if you want it bad enough – then you should go out there and get it regardless if the path is clear.”

“What will you do when they come to ask you why I am gone?”

Gemma winks playfully at Harry, “You do not have to worry about that. I…unlike you…have mastered my ability to lie. There should be no issue with simply saying that I knew nothing of your escape.”

Harry leaps into a hug around his sister, holding her as tightly as he can. “I love you,” he whispers earnestly.

“I love you, too,” she responds before punching him in the side, “But if you ever run off without sending me a letter again, I will personally come to kill you.”

The Omega laughs through the pain, “Deal.”

“And Harry?”

“Hm?”

Gemma grips the side of his arms, “Do not let him go this time.”

Harry carries no doubt in his tone as he answers from his beaming smile, “I promise I will not.”

And somehow, all the questions Harry ever had were answered. All the worry he had been swallowing was eased. He was going to go back to Louis. He was going to go back to his Alpha. He was going to go back to his love.

 

♤⚔ ♤⚔ ♤⚔

 

**LOUIS POV**

“Ay, Will?”

“Yes Niall,” Louis answers from the desk in his office. Niall and Liam are the only ones on the ship that know Louis’ true identity, but they have never dared to call him as such in person. Harry was the only one to ever call him by his real name, bringing back to life a part of Louis that he thought was dead. Now that Harry is gone, Louis Tomlinson has been shoved back into Davy Jones’ Locker forever.

Due to this, Louis sticks to using ‘Will,’ while he remains on the ship, clinging to his pirate identity as if it’s the only tangible thing he has left. Will Tommo brought revenge for Louis. Will Tommo traveled the world for Louis. And Will Tommo ruined love for Louis because pirates don’t fall for pretty Omegas and their bright green eyes.

Will Tommo is the ultimate pirate, or so Louis had thought.

Niall steps halfway into the office, an odd expression of unsureness held on his face, as if maybe he’s hiding something. “There’s a…something goin’ on at the upper deck, I think you’re gonna wanna see.”

“Is there a ship coming near?”

“No, not that. Just uh, why don’t you come with me?”

Louis leaves everything as is on his desk, and makes his way over to Niall timidly. _What could possibly be going on?_ Pacing side by side, Louis takes the last hallway until Liam’s words are loud in the air, “Do you pledge your loyalty to the Code of the Pirate Brethren?”

“I do.”

_That last voice_ , Louis thinks, _it can’t be._ Running now onto the upper deck, Louis finds all his men standing around, watching as two people are talking at the front of the boat. Louis sees Liam first, and then…then he sees _him_. The one who has never left his dreams since he was young. The one who will always own his heart, every damaged, broken piece of it. The one who fills Louis with so much love.

Harry.

“Do you, _Omega Prince Harry of England,_ pledge to the ship – The Black Dagger, as well as to the crew and captain aboard?”

Harry spots the pirate captain across the crowd, and stares at Louis so assuredly as he responds, “I do.”

“Then by the power vested in me from the code by Morgan and Bartholomew, _welcome aboard.”_

The crew cheers, Liam leans in to give Harry a hug, and Louis stands baffled by it all. His confusion doesn’t stop him from pacing up to the Omega though, and standing in front of him with so much just waiting to be said. _Why is here? What happened while he was gone? Did he miss Louis? Did he think of Louis? Why does his scent smell even before than Louis recalls? Why are his eyes more vibrant than before?_ Louis pinches himself into focusing, “What…what is all this?”

Harry bites the inside of his cheek, something he’s done as long as Louis remembers, before he responds, “You said you could not continue this, without knowing that I wanted it. But I do, I want this as much as I have ever wanted anything, and I needed to prove that to you. However, I wanted to do more than just come back on the ship. I wanted to vow not only my loyalty to you, Lou, but to this lifestyle, and become a pirate officially.”

Louis is gobsmacked, “You did all this for me?”

“I would do anything for you.”

“I…I don’t know what to say.”

“Tell me you love me,” the Omega demands, and who is Louis to deny this beautiful boy of anything?

“I love you. I love you beyond the stars and the seas. I love you more than I’ve ever loved anything, and it terrifies me, but I do. I am hopelessly devoted to you.”

As the words have finished pouring out, Louis grabs Harry’s face and kisses him like he’s wanted to kiss him all along. Like his lips have been begging, pleading for all along. Harry gasps at the suddenness, but leans into the gesture, intoxicating Louis with both the taste and feel of his Omega again.

The taste and feel of home.

 

♤⚔ ♤⚔ ♤⚔

 

** TWO MONTHS LATER **

 

Every day is a day in paradise when Louis wakes up next to Harry. His Omega’s skin draws him in, and Louis can’t help but sniff along his neck, scenting Harry as he does. _Mine. Mine. Mine - i_ s all the Alpha thinks as he kisses and licks his way up to Harry’s beautiful pouty lips. Louis somehow loves him more in each and every second of each and every day that he’s with his Omega. Astounding himself always with how infinite the Alpha’s feelings are for the boy.

Since Harry’s return to the ship, things have been uncommonly well. While the Omega hadn’t played an enormous role with the entire crew before, having him back had somehow changed the dynamic that had been in place. When Louis is exceptionally mean or rude to his men, they run to Harry to ease their pains. Louis never thought he could run a ship by being caring, but Harry has proven him wrong.

The pirates are actually happy, who would have thought that’s all they needed?

Additionally, Niall and Harry have been inseparable. Upon Harry’s return, the Beta promised to behead Louis if he ever threatened to tear them apart again. Louis laughed but felt a small sense of fear that Niall wasn’t entirely joking when he said that. Good thing Louis never wants to be away from Harry again anyway. In the past few months, they’ve also continued to uphold their legacy. Robbing ships blind, exacting revenge, and while Louis’ got an Omega, no one is any less scared of the Alpha Pirate.

Will Tommo is still the deadliest captain around, he’s just a deadly captain with a beautiful lover now.

Speaking of which, Harry has really come into his own as a pirate himself. The Omega has no interest in the fighting, but recently he's been spending more and more time with Ed, learning how to read maps. When he's not occupied with that, Louis usually finds him hidden in his favorite spot, writing away in the journals the Alpha gifts him or talking with Liam. The way Harry seamlessly fit in with the crew, with the family, still makes Louis proud. And he's even beginning to look the part with how much Harry’s hair has grown, coming down to his shoulders just enough for Louis to tie little braids throughout the waves. The Omega talks of seeing how long he can grow it before it might look a bit much, but Louis loves the length. Loves waking up with the tendrils of Harry’s locks tickling the side of his face, and loves tugging on them in that way that gets Harry all riled up when they kiss.

Though they haven’t had sex yet, in fact, they haven’t even mated.

But it’s happening tonight.

The ship docked an hour ago on a tiny island, and everyone they know will be there. Not just the crew, but a few of their friends along with Harry’s sister Gemma and her mate. Louis is excited to see them all, and to be surrounded by all the people they love to celebrate tonight’s significance, but he is looking forward to so much more as well. Because there have been so many close calls, so many times where the Alpha’s teeth grazed Harry’s neck, and it was far too tempting to leave his mark. But he made it. He finally made it to today, and it’s going to be so much more special because of it. 

Thinking about it all now, thinking about claiming Harry once and for all, and sealing their destiny for good - has Louis vibrating with such immense need. He’s almost blind with it as he returns back to kissing his Omega, hoping to satisfy some part of his insatiable mind.

Harry stirs under Louis, turning over to kiss the Alpha on the mouth before his eyes have even opened. When they do make their appearance, the pirate captain smiles, having missed their color greatly since last night.

“Mornin’ my love.”

“Good morning, princess,” Louis responds. “Ready for the big day?”

Harry lazily grins, “I’ve been waiting my whole life to be bonded to you.”

Louis’ heart actually bursts with affection. “Me too.”

“And you’re sure,” Louis for a second displays his insecurities and doubt, “You’re sure you still want to be with me?”

This is when Harry leans up, clutching onto Louis’ face and staring at him with nothing but insurmountable love, and a tiny bit of sleepiness, “Of course, I already told you as much.”

“I need to hear it again.”

The Omega smirks, “Former Prince Louis Tomlinson of France, also known as Captain Will Tommo of The Black Dagger, also known as my lover - _yes_. A million times, in a million lives, in a million universes…my heart will always belong to you. Yes.”

The Alpha lets slip a tear as he kisses the Omega for the third time, colliding into Harry’s lips with passion in every inch of his hungry mouth. Because that’s all Louis wants to do, he wants Harry to know what he does to him. He wants Harry to know what he means to him. Harry is Louis’ reason for breathing every day. Harry is Louis’ purpose for living every day. And Louis cannot wait until tonight when he finally gets to sink his teeth into the love of his life, and mark him with their bond for all the world to see.

Because while they’ve been doing just fine without this, the bond will solidify all of their doubts. This will defy all of their fears. While Louis and Harry had been stars in the same sky up until this point – this will change everything that they used to be.

Being mated will be so much more.

 

♤⚔ ♤⚔ ♤⚔

 

The celebration is going strong, but Louis is sneaking Harry away with giggles bursting from his lungs. Harry isn’t entirely sober, stumbling into Louis’ hold as they come back aboard the ship. Entering back inside the captain’s room, Louis senses Harry’s nerves within the air and pulls the Omega into his chest to scent the Alpha into calmness. Once Harry relaxes, Louis breaks apart their embrace, “My love, you can tell me no. I’ll wait an eternity if I have to until you’re ready.”

Moving his head back and forth, Harry signals ‘no,’ before his voice can say, “I’m ready. I promise.”

It builds in increments. The first move is made by Louis as he kisses into Harry’s bitten lips. The Alpha goes slow, taking his time to ease Harry, remind the Omega what this is about. About them, about proving their love to one another. After the kiss has left Harry breathless, Louis breaks away, using this opportunity to carefully peel off Harry’s shirt. Once the bare skin is exposed to the Alpha, he leans in and sucks into the spot he plans to mark. Right at the bottom of his neck. “Princess,” Louis whispers against the bruise he leaves, “I have been to every corner of this earth, and you are still the most beautiful person I have ever had the pleasure to behold.”

“Lou,” Harry moans, “You are so much more than I could ever hope to be.”

The Alpha steals a few more kisses before sliding the Omega’s pants down his legs, leaving Louis as the only one dressed. Remedying the problem, the Alpha hurries to strip himself, but thanks to both his nerves and the speed to which he pulls, he ends up tripping instead. Harry’s melodic laughter comes loudly to his ears, “What happened there, Lou?”

“Oh you know,” Louis jokes back, “Just trying to bond this absolutely gorgeous Omega of mine.”

“Yeah?”

“Ay,” Louis grins, “But I think I’m fucking it up.”

Harry steps in closer, “You’re not, trust me.”

There’s nothing left between them but friction as the Alpha glides his body against the Omega’s, grabbing around Harry’s waist and placing him gently on the bed. For the next ten minutes, it’s wandering hands, heated kisses, and a few teasing strokes. Harry is whimpering noisily underneath Louis, when he breathily begs, “Alpha, I need you to do something. _Please._ ”

The Omega had never called Louis his Alpha before, and Louis might die before he gets to make that real.

“Fuck, okay okay. I’ve got you, my pretty Omega. I’m here,” Louis promises with every kiss he lays into Harry’s chest.

After that, Louis gives to Harry what the Omega is asking for. To be mated. To be bonded. The Alpha moans loudly, mouth dropped open as he slides into the slick heat of the Omega that encases him. It’s so much more than he could have imagined, being this close to Harry. It’s so much.

Before moving, Louis bends down and kisses Harry again, “I love you. Fuck, I love you so much.”

Harry smiles, his dimples that Louis adores so much come out for him to see. “I love you, too.”

Reaching from Harry’s hips to the Omega’s palm, Louis holds their hands together as he begins to rock back and forth into Harry. It doesn’t take long after that, the sight of Harry a quivering mess beneath him is enough to push him over the edge ten times over. But just before, just before he loses his head as he feels the swell below, Louis lowers his lips and bites down hard, marking the left side of the Omega’s neck permanently with his love.

The sensation that courses throughout him, the sensation of their bond - is euphoric.

And Louis had been right. After the mark was made, everything for them did become so much more. There was no telling any longer where Louis ended and Harry began, as they rarely ever left one another’s side. Nights were spent in caring arms, as they passionately professed their love. And days were passed in laughter, and sunshine, as they sailed upon the waves. Always together.

Always.

And while their love never changed, their lives did. It took a few more years riding out the thrill of The Black Dagger, after Niall and Liam had left them to start their own families, after Ed didn't survive a recent fight, after Harry's parents passed away and Gemma took over the throne, Louis took Harry back to England. The Omega was confused to be returning to the country till the Alpha brought him to a tiny cottage in the woods, where they could reside amongst the butterflies like Louis always promised.

Yes, after all was said and done with The Black Dagger, they finally got to live out their original dreams.

In that cottage, they had as many children as they could possibly have together, filling their home with life and love. Though they didn’t have the adventure of piracy to excite their wild hearts, they had something even better - a family - that did all that and more.

And after all the years, after the bond, after the kids, after life had come and gone – certain words still held true about the Alpha and his Omega -

Louis was the sunrise and Harry was the sunset, spending forever chasing each other around the earth.

 

♤⚔ ♤⚔ ♤⚔

 

 


	3. Epilogue

**EPILOGUE: The Last Time Harry and Louis Saw Each Other Before the Rebellion**

 

It’s been a year since Louis has last seen Harry, his awkward thirteen-year-old body barely coming into its own. He panics that Harry will think he looks weird, his hair never lays the way it should anymore. And though Louis spends forever in the mirror trying to brush it into softness, it absolutely refuses.

“Louis! The Styles are here!”

The French Prince glances one last time in the mirror, adjusting his fringe once more with the tip of his fingers before he descends from his room. Harry’s here, is all that he can think when he goes down the steps and sees the familiar family in the foyer.

“Lou,” Harry excitedly cheers, running up to Louis as soon as he’s taken his last step on the ground. Harry’s father reprimands him for his behavior, but neither of the boys pay him any mind.

“Come on,” the older Prince says, “Let’s go out in the yard.”

“Yes, lets.”

Leaving the rest of their families to talk and catch up, the two make their way to their favorite spot in the gardens. Everything is in full bloom, and though the roses have grown wonderfully this year, none of it compares to the beauty that Harry is.

Louis will never see anyone or anything as beautiful as him.

“Hey Lou,” Harry giddily comments as he reaches up to touch Louis’ hair, “You look so much taller this year!”

As opposed to Louis, Harry’s eleven-year-old figure hasn’t transformed as much, but it’s still completely perfect. “Yes,” Louis responds, “Being a teenager sucks.”

“Why’s that?”

“My skin is oily, my hair is defiant,” Louis lists. “Hazza, I wish we could stay as kids forever. I don’t want to become an adult.”

“But then we can’t grow up and get married,” Harry replies.

To be fair, that’s a good point. Louis hadn’t thought of that, and that’s the one thing he is solely looking forward to as an adult. To run away into the woods with Harry.

“You’re right. I suppose I don’t mind going through all of this if it means that we can be together in the end.”

“Or we could get married now?”

Louis laughs, “We are far too young I’m afraid, but soon enough. Don’t you worry your pretty little head, curly.”

Reaching out, Louis brushes his fingers through Harry’s curls, eliciting purrs from the younger boy under his touch. It always overwhelms Louis the effect he has on the other. He hopes it will never change.

Shifting from under Louis’ grasp, Harry turns to stare at the teenager, “Lou?”

“Hm?”

“I’m so excited to be here with you,” he admits hesitantly. “I’ve been waiting all year for us to come back.”

“I’ve been waiting too,” Louis assures.

“You just…you mean so much to me.”

“You mean everything to me,” the older vows.

Harry’s green green eyes that leave him weak every time he gazes into them, pierce into Louis’ soul when the younger Prince asks, “Lou? I know we'll have to part soon again, but when we're older...will you always be by my side?”

Louis couldn't love Harry more at that moment if he tried, “Harry - _Hazza_ , yes. I will always be by your side.”

“Forever?”

“Forever.”

Unbeknownst to Louis then, he never broke his promise.

 

 

 

 

 

_The End._

**Author's Note:**

>  _Thank you all so much_  
>     
>    
> Here is the [rebloggable post](http://afangirlfantasy.tumblr.com/post/171740649291/i-sail-with-you)  
> This is my main blog: [afangirlfantasy](http://afangirlfantasy.tumblr.com)  
> This is my fic rec / author rec side blog: [alarriefantasy](http://alarriefantasy.tumblr.com)


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